


Die for You

by wicl93



Series: For You [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 10:44:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2465351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wicl93/pseuds/wicl93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? Sequel to Kill for You (which you should read first or some of this won't make sense)

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

It had been a year since Ichigo had graduated high school and left the World of the Living and six months since Ichigo had become the fourth seat of squad 11. He had taken some leave and come to visit his family and friends, who were all in Karakura as the summer holidays had started a few weeks previously. Renji had decided to come as well, taking some leave for himself, and both had gotten gigai from Urahara. They were now sitting around the living room in the Kurosaki house, discussing what they had been up to.

"So, what's it like living up there?" Keigo asked excitedly.

"It's okay, I guess", Ichigo replied. "Not really much different than here."

"Well, it's a little different up there than down here", Uryu corrected, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Plus your life is probably very different compared to ours and how yours used to be."

"I doubt you've stopped fighting Hollows", Ichigo said, looking at Uryu. "You have your Quincy pride and everything."

"No, I still fight them, but I do so around college and work. You spend all day training, I imagine."

"Yeah, I guess so", Ichigo responded, smiling. "What's everyone else up to?"

"I'm still at the dojo", Tatsuki replied. "Full time, but today's my day off. How's fashion school, Orihime?"

"Oh, it's amazing, you want to see some drawings?"

"Sure." Ichigo rolled his eyes slightly as the two girls looked over Orihime's poorly drawn images.

"I guess you don't really have to be able to draw to do that work then", Renji commented, only to be hit be Tatsuki when Orihime starting crying slightly.

"It's not like the drawing part matters anyway", Uryu noted. "Isn't the actual clothing more important?"

"Uh huh", Orihime nodded, still sniffing slightly. She looked at Uryu gratefully.

"Well, our college is amazing?!" Keigo almost shouted. "And there's loads of hot girls...you sure you don't want to join us, Ichigo?!"

"I'm sure", Ichigo responded. "Besides, now that I'm a full shinigami my body is a soul, so I'd need a gigai, and I couldn't stay in one for several years to do college. And, like I said a year ago, there's no college course in fighting Hollows."

"And Captain Zaraki is hardly going to let you leave, not to mention Yachiru", Renji added.

"You joined squad 11?" Chad asked.

"Er – yeah, sort of", Ichigo replied.

" 'Sort of'?" Renji repeated. "You're the fourth seat!"

"I'm surprised you ended up in that squad", Uryu said.

"Well, I doubt Kenpachi would have given me much of a choice, when I turned up there having chosen them, he, Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika were plotting on how to get me to join, even though Yamamoto had ordered that I shouldn't be influenced."

"You got to choose your own squad?" Orihime asked curiously.

"Yeah, well, apparently some of them wanted me and some didn't, and all the captains ended up arguing about it, so I got told to choose for myself. After all, academy graduates aren't normally already known by all the captains."

"I guess it makes sense", Orihime mused. "You did want to fight all the time after all."

"I still want to know how you got Captain Kuchiki to agree", Renji grumbled.

"Captain Kuchiki?" Mizuiro repeated.

"He's Rukia's older brother", Chad revealed, realising what Muzuiro was trying to ask.

"Yeah, and I still don't get how you got him to agree, or is the sex that good?" Renji continued. Ichigo flushed bright red, while everyone else turned to look at him.

"You're – um – dating him?" Orihime asked.

"Sort of – er – yeah", Ichigo mumbled, still blushing.  _What are they going to think about me?_ he asked himself, glaring at Renji.  _I was always worried that they wouldn't want anything to do with me once they found out I was gay._

"Oh well, I guess we know why Asano-san's promise of hot girls at college didn't do anything for you", Mizuiro commented, pulling out his phone to check his messages.

"Well – er – there are hot guys as well", Keigo attempted.

"So you didn't join his squad?" Tatsuki asked.

"No, I figured I shouldn't be dating my captain, so I joined Kenpachi's squad instead. Besides, I'm at his house a lot anyway, and no-one seems to mind if I come and go from the squad 6 barracks."

"What about Rukia?" Uryu asked.

"We've known for a while", Renji replied. "I didn't realise you guys didn't." He looked at Ichigo apologetically.

"Are you and Rukia dating?" Orihime asked Renji.

"Er – yeah", he replied, blushing as red as Ichigo had been a few minutes previously.

"How's that going?" Ichigo asked, determined to move the spotlight off himself. However, before Renji could reply, there was a noise from the kitchen.

"Sorry, just dropped something!" Yuzu called to them.

"When did the two of them get back, I thought they went for groceries?" Ichigo muttered, wondering how much they had heard.

"We got back a few minutes ago", Karin stated, coming into the room. "So, does Dad know that you're dating Rukia's brother?" Ichigo groaned slightly, his eyes closing and his head dropping to his chest. "I'll take that as a 'no'", Karin continued. Yuzu came into the room as well.

"Sorry, it's all fixed now", she said, smiling at everyone. "So, what's it like being in a relationship with –" she started to ask, but was interrupted by:

"Did I hear that my son has gotten himself a girl?!" Isshin almost shouted in excitement, jumping into the room. "You'll have to bring her here, so I can...see her!" Ichigo groaned again, realising that his father had come across from the clinic.

"Shut up you pervert", Karin said to him, kicking in the stomach. Everyone watched as he flew back to hit a nearby wall, sitting there afterwards mumbling, apparently to Masaki, about how their children hated him. Karin rolled her eyes. Before Yuzu could ask Ichigo again, his and Renji's soul phones beeped, detecting a Hollow nearby.

"I've got it!" Ichigo said quickly, using a soul candy to jump out of his gigai and running out of the house.

"Should we go and help?" Orihime asked.

"I think he wanted an excuse to leave", Karin noticed.

"Yeah, but he still might need help, that was a real alarm, right?" Yuzu asked, looking at Renji.

"Yeah, it was, but I'm sure he'll be fine, no need to rush", Renji replied, remembering his bed six months ago, how he'd returned to find that Ichigo and his captain had used it for...certain activities.  _And that's the most I want to think about that, although I do know Captain Kuchiki still has a problem with me and Rukia, even now..._

"Well, why don't you tell us about you and Rukia instead?" Orihime suggested.

"Er – yeah, perhaps we should go and see if Ichigo needs help", Renji said, not wanting to discuss his relationship any more than Ichigo wanted to talk about his.

Outside, it hadn't taken Ichigo long to find the reason for the alarm, as the enemy was close to their house, just up in the air – and it wasn't just any Hollow either.

"Well, Kurosaki, you look different. Won't stop me from beating you though", was snarled at Ichigo.

"Grimmjow", was Ichigo's only reply, acknowledging the former sixth espada as he grabbed the hilt of his zanpakuto and pulled it off his back, taking a fighting stance.

"What, no bankai?" Grimmjow replied, pointing his own sword towards Ichigo. "I want you to take this seriously – so I'll wait for you to use your bankai and put on that little mask of yours."

"No mask any more", Ichigo said in reply. "I don't have the powers I had before which gave me the mask."

"Well, the least you can do is use your bankai!" Grimmjow shouted before he attacked Ichigo. Ichigo easily parried every shot the blue-haired male aimed at him, the expression on his face suggesting that it was taking little to no effort to hold back the former espada.

"What do you want here?" Ichigo asked. "Your purpose before seemed to be following Aizen's orders – what do you want now that he's imprisoned?"

"You think all I can do is follow orders?!" Grimmjow shouted back in anger. "It makes no difference that I was told to come here and fight you – if I knew you were here then I would come just so I could get to fight you again, Kurosaki!"

"So you were ordered here then? By who?" Ichigo asked. Grimmjow didn't respond, instead pushing out his hand towards Ichigo and firing a cero blast. However, it didn't reach Ichigo, who had used Getsuga Tensho to prevent the cero blast reaching him, easily slicing through Grimmjow's attack with only his shikai. Grimmjow growled in anger, before smirking at Ichigo and entering his Resurreción form.

Ichigo relented to Grimmjow's repeated requests: "Bankai", he said quietly, his outfit changing and his sword becoming thinner and black.

"Finally!" Grimmjow shouted at him, before attacking Ichigo, trying to cut him with the blades protruding from his forearms. Ichigo parried the hits, although Grimmjow seemed to be winning, and after a few direct hits he managed to knock Ichigo down to the roof of a nearby building, a cloud of dust rising from where Ichigo had landed.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Renji, Orihime, Uryu and Chad had turned up, having left not long after Ichigo, and it was Orihime who had shouted. The four of them were standing on another nearby rooftop. Chad activated his Fullbring, both arms changing, and Uryu drew his bow. Orihime stepped forwards as well.

"Don't", Renji said, merely looking towards the dust cloud obscuring Ichigo.

"He's probably hurt", Orihime said, looking at Renji. "We need to help, he obviously can't do this on his own."

"Trust me", Renji continued, his eyes still fixed on the other rooftop. "You don't get in the middle of a fight involving a member of squad 11 – they're just as likely to attack you for thinking that they needed help. Ichigo may not be quite as bad as the rest of them, but he can win here." As if in response to Renji's words, a jet of lightning shot out of the dust cloud, hitting Grimmjow and knocking him down onto another rooftop. The dust cleared to reveal Ichigo still standing. A small amount of blood trickled down his arm from a cut at his shoulder, and he also had a few scrapes, but he was otherwise fine.

"He can use kido?" Uryu asked.

"You have to know a certain amount to graduate from the academy", Ichigo replied, jumping over to the rooftop which the other four were standing on.

"And you just happened to decide to use the one Captain Kuchiki prefers?" Renji joked. "Hado number four, Byakurai?"

"Shut up Renji", Ichigo said, turning back towards where Grimmjow had landed. He jumped up, standing in the air over Grimmjow. "What are you doing here?" he asked Grimmjow. "Who ordered you here and why? Even if you did come just so you could fight me again, if someone else ordered you here then there must be something else going on." Grimmjow didn't respond, just grinned at all of them, particularly Ichigo. He continued to grin as a Garganta opened above him, a column of light coming down to surround him.

"Damn it!" Renji said. Ichigo glared as well.

"Is that –" Chad began.

"Negación", Renji finished for him. "The same thing Aizen, Ichimaru and Tosen used to get out of the seireitei when they betrayed us. He's already gone, we can't get to him."

As the five of them watched as Grimmjow was taken back to Hueco Mundo, both Ichigo and Renji's soul phones beeped again.

"Is it another Hollow? Or worse?" Orihime asked. Ichigo answered his phone and put it to his ear.

"Yeah, Renji Abarai's here with me. Whatever it is, I can tell him too." The other four looked as Ichigo's eyes widened, hand clenching the phone tightly. "I see. We're on our way", he said, closing the phone.

"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked.

"What is it?" Renji added.

"We have to go back now", Ichigo responded. He turned to look at the other four. "The seireitei has been attacked."

"By who?" Renji growled.

"The Arrancars – I guess that's why Grimmjow was here, as a distraction...people are dead, Renji, we have to go. Now."

"We can keep an eye on what's going on here", Uryu said. "We can always get Urahara to contact you if we need to."

"Sure", Ichigo agreed, as Renji opened the senkaimon for them. "I'll send a message when I can, or come back, to let you know what's happened." He waved a quick goodbye to the three of them, as he and Renji jumped in, returning to the seireitei.

"I hope everything's okay", Orihime said, looking at the senkaimon even as it closed.

"They'll be fine", Uryu said. "We should go and tell the others that Ichigo and Renji had to go...perhaps we shouldn't say why, at least not in front of Yuzu and Karin, we don't want to worry them. We should also take their gigai back to Urahara." Chad nodded his agreement, before the two turned to go back to the Kurosaki house. Orihime looked into the sky for a moment, at the spot where the senkaimon had been, before turning as well, realising that the three of them could only wait for Ichigo to send a message. She hoped that not too many people were injured or dead.

* * *

**Next Chapter - The battles in the seireitei that were happening while Ichigo fought Grimmjow!**


	2. Chapter 2

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? Sequel to Kill for You (which you should read first or some of this won't make sense)

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

Outside the squad 1 barracks, several of the squad members looked on as their lieutenant, Sasakibe, was thrown to the ground. The three arrancars in front of him were clearly powerful, and seemed to be working together, although:

"Don't get carried away, Apacci."

"Shut up, Mila Rose! Besides, we're following Harribel's orders, right?"

"Please stop bickering, it's rather annoying."

"Shut up Sung-Sun", the first two replied. As Sasakibe struggled back to his feet, the other squad members made to move forward, but he stopped them with a look. The three arrancars continued:

"Your low intelligence is not going to help us here."

"We said shut up Sung-Sun. Besides, its Mila Rose who has low intelligence, not me."

"Don't provoke me, Apacci, or I'll kill you."

"Bankai." The three of them turned back towards their opponent as the sky darkened overhead, storm clouds rolling in. "Koko Gonryu Rikyu." A dome of lightning appeared overhead, with several pillars dropping down to surround Sasakibe. One more pillar extended upwards into the sky, into somewhere within the black clouds.

"Do you really think you can stop us?" Mila Rose scoffed.

"Yeah, we're here under Harribel's orders, so we won't lose to you!" Apacci added.

"An important mission depends on our actions", Sung-Sun stated as well.

Sasakibe raised his arm and directed the lightning to strike the three of them, who narrowly missed being hit. After several more close misses, the Tres Bestias realised that they had no choice.

"Damn it! We'll have to use him!" Apacci shouted.

"Yeah, we can't get close this way!" Mila Rose agreed. As one, the three arrancars tore off their left arms, combining their reiatsu to use their Quimera Parca technique. Between them and the squad one barracks, which was being fiercely guarded by its lieutentant, appeared a massive monster, Ayon.

The three arrancars smirked, knowing that their technique could overpower the man in front of them, even with his lightning abilities.

* * *

Kenpachi grinned as he dodged another attack from his third seat.

"You know, Ichigo's better than you, and he's only fourth seat", Kenpachi chided, still grinning.

"Yeah, and Ichi will be back soon after all!" Yachiru shouted from the sidelines. Ikkaku and Kenpachi were sparring in the training ground behind the squad 11 barracks, while Yumichika and Yachiru watched.

"Yeah, but Ichigo uses kido as well, it ruins it!" Ikkaku called out.

"Yes, but you can't deny that he has mastered some of the kido techniques to the point that they really are beautiful", Yumichika chimed in. "Even if he does seem to tend towards the ones Captain Kuchiki favours...I suppose he supports his boyfriend..." Ikkaku ignored Yumichika's comment, although he did assume that it was in some way directed at him, and went to attack Kenpachi again. However, a Garganta opened overhead, distracting the four of them.

"Ooh, what's that?" Yachiru asked.

"You'd think a Hollow would know better than to attack here", Yumichika said in reply. "After all, even with handicaps like Captain Zaraki uses, the amount of reishi here should indicate which captain is here..."

The four of them watched as a figure stepped through the Garganta. They noted that at least it was an arrancar, but still not one of the former espada. As he landed on the ground, several more jumped down behind him, the Garganta closing after around fifty had gathered. Kenpachi looked at them.

"Well, you're all weak, but I suppose I'll fight you, you're the leader, right?"

"Yes", the arrancar replied. "I am Rudbornn Chelute, and these are my Exequias."

"I don't care who you are, you're just the most powerful enemy here, although that's not really saying much", Kenpachi retorted. "I'll leave the rest to you two."

"Of course, Captain", Yumichika replied. Ikkaku nodded as well and the three of them separated, as Kenpachi and Chelute moved slightly away to have their fight. Yachiru jumped up to a high vantage point so that she could watch Kenpachi.

"Well, I guess I could use a good workout", Ikkaku grinned.

"Be careful the Captain doesn't here you say that, you were just fighting him after all", Yumichika replied, also smiling. "Shall we?" With that, he and Ikkaku literally jumped into the battle, cutting down the enemy soldiers easily, without even having to use their shikai. Although there were a lot of them, they didn't seem to be surviving against the attacks of the two squad 11 officers – yet their numbers didn't seem to be dwindling either.

Kenpachi very nearly sighed to himself: "You know, it would have been better for you to attack us if you had more power."

"Power is unnecessary, I am merely following orders."

"Really, whose?" Kenpachi asked, boredom evident in his voice. "Wait," he growled, "that means that your leader – whoever it is – decided you would be enough to defeat me! Well, now I'm just offended."

"Yay! Go Kenny!" Yachiru shouted from somewhere nearby.

Chelute looked at his enemy for a moment before transforming, going into his Resurreción form. From his body he created foot-soldiers, who looked the same as the ones fighting Ikkaku and Yumichika, which jumped towards all four members of squad 11. Kenpachi easily cut down the ones which went for him with merely his sword.

The Exequias which emerged from Chelute to attack Ikkaku and Yumichika were keeping the enemy numbers from decreasing, so the two shinigami decided to use their shikai in order to finish things quickly.

"Grow, Hozukimaru."

"Bloom, Fuki Kujaku."

With that, the two of them easily began cutting down the Exequias which remained.

Two of the soldiers from Chelute's body had jumped towards Yachiru. She glared at them before drawing her zanpakuto and slicing both in half, watching as they dropped before her, dissipating into particles.

"Huh! You distracted me from Kenny's fight!" she said in annoyance. She turned back just as a loud noise blared around them, three successive tones. As if in response, a Garganta opened behind Chelute, but Kenpachi split Chelute in half, cutting him straight down the middle of his body from head to foot, preventing his escape. The few Exequias which had survived Ikkaku and Yumichika evaporated as well, clearly having been linked to their creator.

"Well, that was boring!" Kenpachi complained.

"I wonder why someone so weak and ugly attacked us here", Yumichika mused.

"Apparently under orders, which suggests that some idiot thought he was powerful enough to win against me," Kenpachi said.

"Or wanted him to die because he pissed them off", Ikkaku suggested.

"I wonder if anyone else got attacked", Yachiru said.

"Probably", Yumichika replied.

"Whoever's in charge better not have sent someone powerful after the others, I want the more difficult opponent next time", Kenpachi continued.

"Next time?" Yumichika asked.

"Not if they're all this weak", Kenpachi stated, turning to walk into the rest of the seireitei. Yachiru jumped down onto his back. "We'd better go check there are no other invaders still left, and look for a better enemy", Kenpachi said, before running off with Yachiru still gripping onto his back, shouting (presumably incorrect) directions to Kenpachi. Ikkaku and Yumichika shared a look:

"Well, at least you got that workout", Yumichika teased.

"Shut up", Ikkaku said in reply, although his grin proved that it wasn't anything malicious.

"So, shall we join the Captain and the Lieutenant?" Yumichika asked, turning to as if to follow them. He almost jumped when he felt a hand on his ass, although he was used to Ikkaku by now.

"Sure you don't want to stay? Didn't you make some comment about Ichigo supporting  _his_  boyfriend?"

"How exactly do you plan to prove me wrong by remaining in the training grounds?" Yumichika asked, smiling slightly.

"Actually, I was just going to give you a mind-blowing orgasm so you forgot all about it", Ikkaku grinned.

"Oh...It's too bad there's an invasion going on then, isn't it?" Yumichika asked, smirking. He turned to run into the rest of the seireitei, although he did hear Ikkaku's growl of annoyance before he relented.  _I suppose I can always trust him to want a fight,_  Yumichika mused to himself.  _I hope that noise wasn't some sort of retreat order though, or I'll pay for it later._

* * *

"You are ryoka."

"I'm Asguiaro Ebern, a Privaron Espada."  **[A/N – I know he isn't Privaron Espada in the manga, but I'm making him one here]**

"I am Byakuya Kuchiki, Captain of squad 6, and you are still ryoka, therefore I must defeat you."

"Do you really think you can?" Ebern mocked him. Byakuya narrowed his eyes slightly, as Ebern continued: "I'm Privaron Espada number 102."

"Hm. Does that mean that you were once the 2nd Espada?"

"Like it matters to you", Ebern growled before summoning his reishi cannon, which took Byakuya off guard as it released multiple shots. Even with Byakuya's speed, the cannon blast still managed to damage his right arm, the one Byakuya normally held his zanpakuto with. Byakuya used his shunpo to move behind Ebern.

"Hado number four, Byakurai." Ebern barely managed to avoid being struck with the lightning which emerged from the shinigami's hand, jumping aside just in time, as Byakuya had been immediately behind him, with the kido spell being focussed on the arrancar's chest.

"Did you really think you get get me with kido?" Ebern scoffed.

"Hado number thirty-three, Sokatsui." Ebern attempted to dodge again, but this time Byakuya was faster, managing to damage Ebern's left arm, taking a chunk out of it as the arrancar attempted to avoid the spell. Ebern whirled around to face Byakuya again, glaring at him.

"You –"

"Hado number seventy-three, Soren Sokatsui." This time Ebern predicted the kido attack and fired a blast from his cannon, which struck Byakuya's spell, the two types of reishi cancelling each other out – for the most part, as there was still a shockwave, which threw both of them backwards away from each other. Ebern managed to right himself fairly quickly, but Byakuya hit the ground, staying there for the slightest amount of time before pulling himself back to his feet, noting that his right leg was now injured as well.  _This will not be an easy enemy to defeat,_ Byakuya thought to himself, as he prepared to raise the level of his attacks.

* * *

It was a seemingly random street in the seireitei, with no-one around except for a sole figure, who jumped aside as a pillar of ice flew in his direction, although it soon dissipated, likely as it hadn't trapped anything.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

"I am Gantenbainne Mosqueda, Privaron Espada number 107."

"I am Rukia Kuchiki, lieutenant of squad 13. Who ordered you here?"

"I'm afraid I can't give you information like that." Rukia narrowed her eyes at him in response, becoming even more annoyed as Mosqueda continued: "Don't worry, I can tell that you are much inferior to me in skill, so I'll lower my abilities to your level."

"What makes you think that I'm weaker?" Rukia asked, annoyance evident in her voice and her glare. He didn't respond, but revealed his zanpakuto, which was in the form of a two-pronged dagger gripped in the middle. Before she could do anything else, he had used sonido to appear behind her, discharging energy from between the blade tips. However, she moved out of the way, using shunpo and evading the attack, which Mosqueda had expected to result in her falling to the ground in defeat. As he looked around, wondering where she would attack from, he heard:

"Hado number 33, Sokatsui!" A blast of energy struck Mosqueda in the chest, throwing him back into the wall of a nearby building, which cracked under the pressure of the reiatsu Rukia had put into her kido spell.

"Unfortunately for you," Mosqueda began, brushing off the pieces of the wall from his clothes, "that attack did not take me down."

"I wouldn't have expected a single spell, even one which I'm good at, to take down a former espada", Rukia retorted, redrawing her zanpakuto. "Dance, Sode no Shorayuki." She turned her blade in a counter-clockwise circle, releasing her sealed zanpakuto, before continuing: "Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Rukia made a slashing motion, and a column of ice appeared. However, Mosqueda again avoided her attack with sonido, and appeared behind her. She turned around.

"Uno", he said as he struck her in the abdomen. "Dos", he said as he dealt numerous blows with both arms. "Cientos!" he shouted as he made the final strike, causing Rukia to fly back through the wall of a nearby building, which collapsed around her. He noted that she was unable to stand as he approached her.

"I think that this is your end, Lieutenant of squad 13."

* * *

"Well now, what are you two little girls doing here?" The two arrancars looked up to see a female shinigami looking down on them from a roof of a nearby building. She jumped down in front of them, drawing her zanpakuto.

"We're here to attack you", one of the arrancars replied.

"Oh really, me personally? Well, that is such an honour", the shinigami began, flipping her hair back.

"We don't even know who you are", the other arrancar pointed out, smirking.

"Rangiku Matsumoto, lietenant of squad 10."

"Loly Aivirrne, Arrancar number 33 in Sosuke Aizen's army."

"Menoly Mallia, Aizen's Arrancar number 34."

"You make it sound like Aizen is still your leader", Rangiku noted.

"That's because he is!" the two arrancars shouted in unison, before rushing towards Rangiku. She easily sidestepped their attack with shunpo.

"Growl, Haineko!" The arrancars were immediately enveloped in a cloud of ash, and, as Rangiku twisted the hilt of the zanpakuto left in her hand, the ash began to cut them up.

"Poison, Escolopendra!" came a shout from inside the ash cloud. Rangiku summoned it back, the blade of her zanpakuto replacing itself, as she looked at the scene in front of her. Although one had been defeated, the other arrancar had managed to use her Ressureción to evade the attack. Rangiku prepared herself to attack again, realising that the fight was far from over.

* * *

A lone figure walked through the bookshelves, looking for the information he needed. He was dressed in a long white hooded cloak with a black mask obscuring his facial features. As he wandered through, picking up certain scrolls and texts and putting them inside the large inner pockets of his cloak, he noted that there were very few members of squad 6 around, and their barracks was just in front of the Kuchiki clan libraries. Squad 7 had their barracks and training ground nearby as well – the individual had found this information in one of the texts he was collecting. It didn't take him long to finish his work, and he soon made his way back to the entrance and outside. While it had been sunny when he entered, he now took notice of the new weather – in one direction storm clouds and lightning, in another it seemed to be snowing – and realised this was probably the result of the abilities of certain shinigami who were fighting battles with the arrancers.

Outside the Kuchiki libraries, two others waited for him, handing him the information they had gathered.

"Who are you?" a voice growled at the three of them.

"We could ask you the same thing", the hooded figure replied.

"Sajin Komamura, Captain of squad 7."

"I see", the figure replied, slipping back his hood and removing his mask. "I am Luders Friegen, Arrancar number 18 of Sosuke Aizen's army. However, I'm afraid I have to depart now." Before Komamura could react, Friegen used sonido to leave the area, and the Captain of squad 7 instead turned to the other two arrancar, who were...bouncing up and down.

"Lumina did good!"

"Verona did good!"

Komamura growled at the two of them, deciding to take them as prisoners to be questioned. He wanted to avoid killing them, so he used only his shikai:

"Roar, Tenken!" A long arm was created, and as Komamura moved his own arm, the larger one slashed at the two arrancars. Komamura expected them to fall to the ground, but instead they crumbled into small pieces. He growled at himself for overdoing it against a clearly weak opponent, before he was distracted by a blaring siren, three short horn blasts one after another.

On the other side of the seireitei, Harribel had just come out of her Resurrecion form, her opponent lying defeated on the ground over a mile away, having been thrown through several buildings, when Friegen appeared beside her.

"We have the information", he said.

"Good", she replied. She threw something up into the air, which created the noise which Komamura had heard, a horn blast three times in succession, then opened a Garganta for herself. "Open the Garganta for anyone who cannot do so for themselves", she ordered Friegen. He nodded, leaving to do so while Harribel left, returning to Hueco Mundo and leaving the seireitei in disarray.

* * *

**Next Chapter - the conclusions to these battles!**


	3. Chapter 3

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? Sequel to Kill for You (which you should read first or some of this won't make sense)

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

Despite Byakuya's injuries, he knew that he had no choice but to use his shikai, noting that his enemy was quite powerful:

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." He directed the petal-blades with his sword, aiming them for Ebern, but the arrancar was too quick, using sonido to avoid the attack. Byakuya's injured right arm was also making it difficult to control his shikai, as the weight of his zanpakuto was causing his arm to drop slightly. Ebern moved behind his cannon, partly shielded from the petal-blades, as Byakuya's arm dropped further, his injured arm affecting his ability to fight.

"Can't even hold your own zanpakuto, Captain of squad 6?" Ebern mocked. "I thought you had to defeat me because I was ryo-something or other. Or have you already lost?" Ebern chuckled.

"Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."  _My bankai will reduce the stress to my right arm,_ Byakuya said to himself.  _I have no weight in my hand, or I can even use my left arm to control my bankai._  He raised his left arm, the petal-blades moving as well, directing a stream of them at Ebern. However, another cannon blast forced Byakuya to wrap the petal-blades around himself in a defensive formation. He could still attack, but finding an opening was proving difficult. He continued to defend himself with his bankai while looking for an opening to attack the arrancar he was fighting.

* * *

As Ayon moved towards him, the squad members and the barracks, Sasakibe attempted to use his lightning bolts to strike the beast, however, although he hit Ayon, it seemed to have no effect.

"He's stronger than the last time we fought you, shinigami", Apacci taunted.

"His strength increases with ours, and we haven't been sitting around Hueco Mundo doing nothing", Mila Rose added. Ayon swung his arm, throwing Sasakibe backwards and through the wall of the barracks, into Yamamoto's quarters. Ayon continued to smash through the barracks, as the squad members quickly evacuated, using both his strength and cero blasts from his left eye in order to level the barracks. The three arrancars stood in the air above the destruction, a short distance away, watching as Ayon tore through the walls, paying little attention to the squad members.

Yamamoto finally decided to fight, which caused the Tres Bestias to retreat slightly, remembering how easy it had been for him to defeat them seventeen months previously. However, by this point, Ayon had already levelled the entire barracks and was continuing to smash up what was left, several squad members lying dead around the area as proof of the beast's destructive capabilities, although their opponent had apparently been rescued by some of his squad members.

"Jokaku Enjo." Yamamoto used his shikai to enclose Ayon in an immense wall of flame, preventing the destruction from continuing. He looked around the area, noting around twenty squad members dead at least, and Sasakibe, although alive, was seriously injured. He turned towards the Tres Bestias, intent on destroying them.

Without warning, a noise sounded. It was like a blaring horn, in three short bursts, then it stopped. Yamamoto looked around, wondering what the source of the noise was, and its purpose. In the air above him, the three arrancars turned towards a Garganta which had just opened nearby them. They looked at the destruction briefly, before retreating through the Garganta, returning to Hueco Mundo. Yamamoto turned towards the barracks, knowing that other areas had probably been attacked as well. He ordered the uninjured to take the injured members to squad four, then to assist any other squads which had been in attacks, before sending a messenger to gather up the captains and send them to squad one for a meeting, which would have to be held in front of the now levelled building. His Jokaku Enjo faded away to reveal that the beast had disappeared as well, likely returning to become the left arms of the three arrancars who had just attacked.

"Was that your purpose?" Yamamoto asked himself as he looked towards the ground that could be seen through the collapsed building. "Were you after him?"

* * *

The blond arrancar was on the floor, covered in cuts, but the other remained on her feet, having activated her Resurreción form. She had armour covering her arms and legs, as well as some around her back, and four long snake-like extensions surrounding her body. Rangiku looked at Loly, wondering how she could get past the armour, when she was suddenly thrown back by a cero blast from the other arrancar, who she had assumed would be too weak to attack. Rangiku was thrown to the ground and Menoly tried to force herself to stand up, but found herself trapped by several columns of ice. Rangiku pulled herself to her feet, clutching her arm where the cero blast had hit her.

"Captain –"

"How bad is your arm?"

"Er – well, actually...it's fine, just a bit of blood, see?" Rangiku moved her hand aside. Part of her uniform had been torn away and there was a bloody mark on her arm, but the wound was superficial at best. "I moved out of the way of most of the blast."

"So why were you on the floor?"

"Well, I sensed you coming and I thought you could deal with them for me...I'm so tired after all", Rangiku whined.

While they had been talking, Loly had been attempted to use her poison to get rid of the ice trapping Menoly, who had fallen to the floor again.

"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" An ice dragon emerged from Hitsugaya's zanpakuto, knocking Loly backwards and pinning her to the wall. Her Resurreción form faded away and Hitsugaya then used his shikai to capture her as well. Both he and Rangiku started when a loud noise blared around them, three short successive blasts.

"Have to...retreat", Menoly gasped, trying to stand up. A Garganta opened for them nearby, but soon closed again, as both were too injured to make it through.

"That was a retreat command then?" Hitsugaya asked them. They didn't answer, either ignoring him or just too injured to speak.

"That means the other attackers will retreat as well", Rangiku pointed out.

"We should take these two back to the barracks and lock them up to be questioned later. Then we need to find out if anyone requires assistance – the enemy may have retreated, but there may be injured who we can do something for", Hitsugaya ordered. Rangiku nodded in reply and picked up the two arrancars easily, carrying them over her shoulders as she followed her captain back to their barracks, the small wound on her arm going unnoticed as she did so.

* * *

Rukia groaned slightly as she shifted some of the pieces of the wall which had collapsed on her. She noticed that her enemy was approaching, but also knew that she had been severely weakened.  _I'll use kido with an incantation,_  Rukia said to herself.

"Ye lord...mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man...on the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus...in the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens", she muttered under her breath. By this point, Mosqueda was practically standing over her.

"What are you muttering about?" he asked curiously.

"Hado number 73, Soren Sokatsui!" A wave of energy, larger than the one from her previous spell, took the arrancar by surprise, throwing him across to the other side of the street.

Both combatants now lay among collapsed buildings, neither having been victorious. Rukia could feel herself slipping out of consciousness, having used up all her energy. She noticed that her reiatsu felt different, colder, but was unable to do anything, the small amount of reiatsu she had left doing nothing more than freezing a few of the sections of wall near her hands. Mosqueda managed to pull himself to his feet as the retreat order sounded, opening a Garganta and returning to Hueco Mundo just as Rukia lost consciousness.

* * *

Harribel walked purposely through the streets of the seireitei in the direction of the squad 1 barracks. She was stopped, however, when a shinigami, clearly a captain based on his haori, blocked her path.

"Sorry, but you're not going any further", he sighed, drawing his zanpakuto.

"I am the queen of Hueco Mundo, a captain such as yourself will not stop me."

"Well at least you know I'm a captain", he grinned. "Shinji Hirako, Captain of squad 5. And I will stop you – I think I know who you're here for, and you won't get him."

"I will complete the goal I came here for", she replied, drawing her own zanpakuto from the sheath on her back. Shinji narrowed his eyes at her before attacking. She parried his shots easily, pushing him back and discharging a cero from the tip of her sword, a wide blast of yellow energy heading for the shinigami captain. He easily dodged with shunpo, causing Harribel to instead use Ola Azul, releasing a projectile of energy which had been gathered in the hollow portion of her blade.

"The whole world up here is made of reishi particles, not like that fake town in which you fought and defeated many of the espada", she said. "My weapon charges up easily, and it is a stronger energy blast, which also comes from my own increased strength." Shinji merely looked at her:

"You still missed me, so what difference does it make?"

"I will end this quickly", she stated. "Destroy, Tiburón."

Shinji watched as a heart-shaped surge of water surrounded the former espada, completely enveloping her. She cut her way out of it to reveal a drastic change to her appearance – her zanpakuto, once smaller (albeit wider) than a standard one, was now huge, resembling a shark tooth, her hand completely covered by a guard which seemed to extend over the hilt. Her outfit had also shifted around and her hair was now loose. The zanpakuto glowed and Shinji raised his own, expecting another attack.

"Trident", she said, before firing a high-force slash in three shots. Shinji attempted to dodge, but one of the shots hit him, throwing him backwards. As he stood up, groaning slightly, he stated:

"You aren't the only one who can change your appearance." He lifted his hand to his face, allowing his Hollowfication to bring out his mask. Harribel looked on with apparent indifference. He lifted his fist, gathering the energy for his own cero, which he released at her in a horizontal beam of red light. However, Harribel lifted her zanpakuto, using the water abilities it gave her to fire off blasts of water, dispelling the cero and even causing some of it to rebound back on Shinji.

* * *

Another blast from Ebern's cannon hit the petal-blades encircling Byakuya. This one was more powerful, the arrancar clearly becoming frustrated, and caused some of the petal-blades to push back into Byakuya's safe zone, causing a few small cuts to his body. Ebern noticed this and continued blasting his cannon, using his sonido at the same time. He moved around with his cannon, firing off shots almost simultaneously from multiple directions. As the petal-blades began to cause Byakuya more damage, he was forced to move them further away from himself, again attempting to use them to attack Ebern.

As a loud horn blared three times in succession, blood flew into the air, as multiple shots from Ebern's cannon hit their target at the same time. Ebern smirked, opening a Garganta and turning to leave.

"Captain? What a joke. He never stood a chance against someone as powerful as me", Ebern retorted, looking to where his opponent had been standing. As the dust cleared, all that could be seen was a crater. "Must have used too many shots – looks like I've completely obliterated his body. Oh well, guess I should be going." Ebern turned away, obeying the retreat order and leaving soul society, having completely defeated Byakuya.

* * *

Shinji growled behind the white mask, his black and grey eyes flashing with anger as he stumbled slightly, the energy from his own rebounded cero combining with Harribel's earlier attack to severely weaken him, although he had enough reiatsu that his mask was still in place. He looked at her weapon for a moment, studying it –  _it's big,_ he said to himself,  _perhaps I can get round her and attack before she can move? That thing has to make her slower, right?_  Shinji used shunpo, appearing behind Harribel and lifting his zanpakuto as if to attack, but she turned quickly, quicker than he thought she would be able to considering the size of her weapon. Another surge of water hit him, much larger than before, the cascade throwing him backwards.

Harribel looked on as Shinji was thrown through several buildings, his mask disappearing as he went. She released her Resurreción, noting her easy victory, as her enemy was now over a mile away, lying unconscious on a pile of rubble which had been created as he smashed through the buildings. She turned slightly as Friegen appeared beside her.

"We have the information", he said.

"Good", Harribel replied. She threw something up into the air, which created a horn blast three times in succession, the one which had been heard across the seireitei, then opened a Garganta for herself. "Open the Garganta for anyone who cannot do so for themselves", she ordered Friegen. He nodded, leaving to do so while she left, returning to Hueco Mundo and leaving the seireitei in disarray.

* * *

**Next Chapter - Ichigo and Renji return too late to find out the extent of the damage!**


	4. Chapter 4

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? Sequel to Kill for You (which you should read first or some of this won't make sense)

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, ShunsuixJushiro, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

Renji and Ichigo appeared outside the barracks of squad 12 in the evening, a few hours after the attack had ended, although they themselves weren't aware of this fact. They decided to go inside as the research department would probably be able to tell them what was going on and where the enemy was. However...

"Not now, I'm trying to figure out what they wanted", Mayuri said in exasperation.

"But –"

"Nemu, deal with these two."

"Deal with us how?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"Hmm, well, now you mention it..." Mayuri began thoughtfully.

"Perhaps I should take them to squad 4, Master Mayuri?"

"Yes, yes, whatever."

Nemu led the two of them to the squad 4 barracks then turned around and left them there. Renji and Ichigo shared a look before going inside, where Isane met them.

"Oh – you're back?" she asked, her voice sounding somewhat strained.

"Yeah, I guess the attack is over?" Renji asked.

"Yeah, but it isn't like we won, and they'll probably be back."

"Who is 'they'?" Ichigo asked. "Arrancars?"

"Yes actually, how did you know?" Isane asked.

"Isane?" Unohana called from down the corridor. The lieutenant excused herself.

"So Grimmjow really was a distraction", Renji noted.

"Yeah, but what did they want here?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm glad to see the two of you here", Unohana said, approaching the two of them. "Please come with me."

"Captain Unohana, can you tell us what happened please?" Renji asked, as the captain of squad 4 led them through the medical building.

"The seireitei was attacked by arrancars; their purpose is unknown – although I believe some were captured. In the course of the attack, around 160 squad members died, as well as a seated officer. Some people were injured in attacks and some as the result of the destruction caused by higher-ranked shinigami. The worst was squad 1 – their entire barracks has been levelled", she said grimly. She opened a door and allowed them both inside.

"Rukia?" Ichigo asked. Renji went over to sit on the bed and hug her.

"She's fine, just a little injured from her battle", Unohana stated.

"I'm more annoyed that he got away", Rukia said sheepishly, allowing Renji to hug her closely.

"Is anyone else injured?" Ichigo asked.

"Captain Hirako was thrown through several buildings and is still unconscious. We believe he will be out for at least the next few weeks. It appears that his opponent was one of the former espada."

"I see", Ichigo replied, sharing a look with Renji.

"Lieutenant Sasakibe was also severely injured through his defence of his squad barracks, and..." Unohana trailed off.

"And what?" Ichigo prompted. Unohana sighed.

"Captain Kuchiki is dead."

The room seemed to get colder at her statement. Rukia gasped slightly and gripped onto Renji tighter; he instinctively hugged her closer. Ichigo looked at Unohana.

"Are you sure?"

"The attack completely obliterated his body –"

"If you have no body he may be alive!" Ichigo half-shouted.

"I know you are upset, but please do not shout, this is a place of healing. As for the body, as I said, it is believed that his body was completely destroyed. From what squad 12 has been able to determine so far, he fought a Privaron Espada with an incredibly high reiatsu level. The site of his battle is merely a crater, where the traces of Captain Kuchiki's reiatsu end – he has not left the area or been moved, so while there is no body, he is dead." The two of them turned at the sound of a sob, Rukia's face buried in Renji's chest while he just sat there, stating into space. Ichigo looked between the three of them for a moment then turned and left, heading for his own barracks.

* * *

The morning after the attack, Yamamoto called a meeting, to be held in front of the levelled squad 1 barracks. As several of the captains were indisposed in some way, and also due to the severity of the attack, certain lieutenants and seated officers were there as well. Yamamoto was seated at one end, while the two lines of people before him consisted of Sui-Feng, Rose, Unohana, Renji, Komamura, Shunsui, Hitsugaya, Kensei, Kenpachi, Ichigo, Yumichika, Ikkaku, Nemu and Jushiro.

"What do we know so far?" Yamamoto asked no-one in particular.

"Some information was taken from the Kuchiki clan libraries", Komamura said, looking towards Renji, who stiffened slightly. "It appears some was also taken from the main library of the seireitei, although we don't know what is missing yet."

"I see. Captain Ukitake, please go through the libraries and determine what was taken", Yamamoto ordered.

"The prisoners we captured have confirmed that the attack seemed to be centred on the rescue of Sosuke Aizen", Hitsugaya said. "As he is confined below the squad 1 barracks, the arrancars attacked here with a decent amount of force. The rest of the battles were intended to distract the higher ranked shinigami so that we wouldn't be able to assist squad 1."

"In that case, I hereby order that a barricade should be set up around the remains of the squad building – squads 2 and 11 will encircle it, and there will be members of both squads in the area at all times of the day and night." With that Yamamoto dismissed them, and Ichigo walked off a little way, although he was still able to hear what was going on, as the others started having a conversation:

"Surprised he put you with us – did you even fight during the attack?" Kenpachi asked Sui-Feng, with a grin on his face.

"I was training", she responded, glaring at him. "I couldn't get back in time to assist."

"They attacked at a bad time – or a good time for them, I suppose", Kensei said. "I was on leave in the World of the Living, and I think Lieutenant Abarai and Fourth Seat Kurosaki were as well."

"Yeah, they were", Ikkaku said.

"Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku were absent as well", Nemu noticed.

"So were you", Ikkaku stated.

"I was experimenting with Master Mayuri."

"I don't think I want to ask what that means", Kensei remarked.

"We were on leave", Shunsui said in explanation as he passed them. Jushiro nodded his agreement as the two of them walked away together.

"What do you think they were doing?" Yumichika asked.

"Who cares?" Renji said, walking away from the area. The remaining people looked at him as he left.

"Captain Kuchiki is the only high-level shinigami to have died during the attack", Ikkaku noticed. A flash of orange caught their attention, as they all realised that Ichigo was still standing close by. With guilty looks on their faces, everyone left the area. Ichigo watched as they walked away in various directions, thinking about what had happened.  _It's weird that they managed to attack at the right time – at least for them,_ Ichigo said to himself.  _How did they know that everyone was all over the place? Was it an assumption because everything with Aizen is over? But that's been over for a few years now...how did they know?_  Ichigo looked at the collapsed building that was once the squad 1 barracks. He knew it would only be a short while before squad 2 arrived, especially after what Kenpachi had said to Sui-Feng, so he figured he should leave –  _I'll have to be on duty here soon enough,_ he reminded himself,  _and it's not like Sui-Feng is particularly fond of me...I may have been through the academy, but I was still trained by Urahara to start with._  As Ichigo left, heading for his squad's barracks, his mind slipped to thoughts of Byakuya.  _Byakuya,_ Ichigo said in his mind,  _where are you?_

* * *

Jushiro was sat on the floor of the main library, looking through several books. It had been easy enough to figure out which area of the library the stolen texts had been taken from, and now he was looking through the directory to determine exactly what was missing. The directory for the area was open on the floor in front of him and he was looking down the list, writing down any missing books on a notebook on his lap. He had been getting through his job quite quickly, but now...

"Come on, Jushiro", Shusui said from his spot, seated on a chair a short distance away.

"This is important."

"It's not like I'm asking for much, but we did get interrupted", Shunsui continued. "And I know you don't like interruptions during certain...activities", he added with a leer. He looked at Jushiro from beneath his hat, before removing it and moving to sit beside the white-haired shinigami. He put his arm around Jushiro's waist and leant his head on the shoulder of the pale man in his arms.

"Shunsui, this is important, and we can finish our holiday another time."

"I know, but that hot spring was so much fun, especially with you there...with no clothes...and –"

"Should I ask the Head Captain to have you banned from the library?" Jushiro asked, although his tone was playful as he smiled softly.

"Yama-jii has more important things to worry about...how about just one kiss then I'll help you?"

"Fine", Jushiro relented, allowing the dark-haired man to kiss him. He moaned softly as Shunsui deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue inside as Jushiro pulled his hand downwards to grasp...a book.

"What...?"

"I gave you a kiss, so now you have to help me", Jushiro reminded him. "That directory is for the area just over there", he continued, indicating the direction. "Compare the directory with what is left – we need to know what information they took, and this is the best way to find out."

"But –"

"It's not like you meant anything dirty when you said you'd 'help' me, did you?"

"Well, actually –"

"Good, go on then", Jushiro said firmly, looking back down at the books scattered on the floor around himself. Shunsui sighed to himself, realising he was going to have to do some actual work.

"Fine, but when this is done with I'm taking you back to that hot spring."

"Fine with me", Jushiro replied, smiling although he was still looking down at the books.

"And we get to mess around in the water", Shunsui added.

"Okay – wait, what?"

"Too late, you already agreed", Shunsui leered. "I'll go and work over there then – let you think about what we can do when we're done here." Shunsui moved through the bookcases, feeling Jushiro's stare aimed at his back. Jushiro may try to argue, but Shunsui knew that, in the end, he'd get what he wanted from the pale man.

* * *

Later that evening, Ikkaku and Yumichika were sitting an a rock – or possibly a collapsed section of building – having just arrived at what was left of the barracks building of squad 1. Ichigo was standing a few feet away, and Yachiru bounded up to them.

"Hi Baldy, hi Yun-Yun!"

"Good evening, Lieutenant", Yumichika replied politely, ignoring Ikkaku's annoyance at the nickname.

"Hi Ichi!" she called to Ichigo, who came over.

"Did you need something, Yachiru?" he asked.

"Hmm", she said thoughtfully, putting the index finger of one hand to her mouth. "Nope! Oh wait – what were you two doing earlier?" she asked, looking at Ikkaku and Yumichika.

"When?" Ikkaku asked.

"When you were in Yun-Yun's room at the barracks and moaning and letting out a lot of reiatsu."

"They were doing dirty things", Ichigo told her.

"Oh, okay then. Now I'm gonna go!" She ran off, saying something about finding something – although her distance meant she could have been saying she was looking for 'Kenny' or for 'candy'.

"Are you okay Ichigo?" Yumichika asked carefully.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked in reply.

"Shouldn't you be at least a little upset?" Ikkaku asked.

"Would you be upset if I was dead?" Yumichika asked.

"Yeah, but I'd probably kill your killer first", Ikkaku replied grinning. They both then turned to Ichigo.

"We can cover for you if there's something you need to do", Yumichika said.

"There's no point", Ichigo stated evenly.

"Well, if they're after Aizen then they'll probably attack again soon enough. We'll make sure to leave Byakuya's killer for you", Ikkaku said.

"You're offering to not fight someone?" Ichigo asked, his voice still monotonous.

"It's your fight", Yumichika reminded him. "Now, are you sure you don't want to go?"

"Like I said, there's no point. Byakuya will show himself eventually so there's no point going to look for him – besides, he'll be more annoyed that I broke orders to look for him than if I just stayed here."

"Ichigo –" Yumichika began.

"He's not dead", Ichigo said firmly. "I don't know where he is, but he's not dead. Perhaps he's seriously injured somewhere, but I know he's still alive." Ikkaku and Yumichika shared a look.

"Squad 12 examined the area and said that there were no traces of his reiatsu leading away from it", Ikkaku said.

"I don't care who looked, I don't care what they said, I know what I know, and that is that Byakuya is still alive somewhere. He's probably injured, maybe even unconscious, but not dead", Ichigo stated. He walked a short distance away from the other two, ending the conversation.  _He got away somehow, I know he did,_ Ichigo said to himself.  _Given his speed he could probably have gotten away without leaving any traces of his reiatsu behind. If he got away then passed out somewhere...I don't care what anyone says, I won't accept that Byakuya is dead._

* * *

**Next Chapter - The seireitei is attacked again!**


	5. Chapter 5

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? Sequel to Kill for You (which you should read first or some of this won't make sense)

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, ShunsuixJushiro, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

It was now three days after the attack on the seireitei, and Head Captain Yamamoto had called a Captains meeting to discuss everything. Due to Shinji still being hospitalised and Byakuya's demise, Momo and Renji were present.

"Have you determined what information was taken from the libraries?" Yamamoto asked Jushiro.

"Yes...it seems to be information on the seireitei, where everything is, which barracks are where...that sort of thing", Jushiro replied. "Which makes no sense – didn't they already know where Aizen was?"

"Unless Aizen isn't their target", Shunsui suggested.

"Of course he is", Yamamoto declared.

"Actually, I think he's right", Jushiro said, agreeing with Shunsui. "The information seems to be about all the squads, about where the barracks are and what the specific function of the squad is – if it has one. It seems to me that the arrancars are trying to prove that they are still a threat, even without Aizen, so they are looking for weak spots to attack. The first invasion seemed to be a distraction so they could infiltrate the libraries – the fact that they attacked here at squad 1 was just coincidence, and the destruction was likely caused by the nature of the powers of the arrancars here."

"That's good", Kenpachi grinned. "If it was only a distraction that means that they didn't send that weakling to me thinking he could actually win."

" 'Coincidence'?" Yamamoto repeated, ignoring Kenpachi's statement. "Do not forget that there was another attack on the remains of my squad's barracks only yesterday."

"That may have just been because they sensed a large amount of reiatsu here", Jushiro suggested. "With most of squads 2 and 11 here, I expect that there was nowhere else with so large a concentration of reishi. No other attacks occurred at the same time – perhaps it was just to keep us on our toes?"

"Preposterous", Yamamoto stated.

"I agree", Momo said softly. "Captain Hirako woke up earlier – he said that the person he fought claimed to be the queen of Hueco Mundo. While he assumed she was here for Aizen, he said that she actually seemed to be only interested in the information, and left once she had it."

"The two arrancars we have prisoner keep going on about Aizen", Hitsugaya pointed out.

"Well, perhaps he brainwashed them so much that they only agreed with the other arrancars at the thought of rescuing him", Momo suggested. Hitsugaya looked at her for a moment, his expression briefly showing anger as he remembered what Aizen had done to his childhood friend.

"I suppose it is possible," Yamamoto began, "but unlikely. Therefore, I am ordering that, starting tomorrow, other shinigami will question the two captives."

"Perhaps Lieutenant Hinamori should go first?" Jushiro suggested. "If they are still loyal to Aizen, well..."

"I'll probably be able to recognise quicker than anyone else if they've been brainwashed", Momo said. Jushiro smiled apologetically at her.

"Very well, Lieutenant Kira will accompany you. Then squad 9 can question them as well", Yamamoto ordered. "Now, the position of Captain of squad 6 – we will leave the seat vacant until after the funeral, out of respect for Captain Kuchiki." He looked at Renji.

"Er – yeah, Rukia – I mean, Lieutenant Kuchiki...she has started plans for the funeral, it's just..." Renji trailed off.

"Yes?" Yamamoto prompted.

"Well, she wants Ichigo to help her – er, Fourth Seat Kurosaki – and...he won't."

" 'He won't'?"Captain Unohana repeated.

"Yeah...he thinks that Captain Kuchiki is still alive somewhere", Renji explained.

"My squad thoroughly checked the area, and I assure you that, if there were even traces of his body, I would have collected it", Mayuri stated. "I may not necessarily want to hand any remains over..."

"Captain Kurotsuchi", Yamamoto said warningly. He continued: "Captain Zaraki, please explain the actions of your Fourth Seat."

"What is there to explain?" Kenpachi shrugged. "He thinks Byakuya's just injured somewhere...he won't break orders to look for him, but he's also not going to help with the funeral plans for someone he thinks is still alive."

"It must be difficult for him", Captain Unohana said. "They were together, weren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that", Kenpachi replied nonchalantly.

"Captain Zaraki, do not allow your Fourth Seat to do something reckless", Yamamoto ordered.

"What I say won't make any difference to his actions", Kenpachi shrugged. "I'll tell him not to do anything stupid, but that doesn't mean he'll listen."

"I see", Yamamoto said.

"The funeral preparations will continue anyway", Renji put in.

"Very well. Are you prepared to take the position of captain of your squad, Lieutenant Abarai?" Yamamoto asked.

"Er...me?"

"You will be examined on your capabilities, but I expect you will be able to take the seat", Yamamoto said. "You are all dismissed for now."

* * *

"Ichigo, you have to accept it, we all do!" Rukia shouted at him, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want him to be dead either, but it's been three days now! Even if he was just injured, he'd be dead by now!" she continued. Ichigo looked at her for a moment. They were in the squad 11 barracks, in Ichigo's quarters, and Rukia had come to see him again regarding Byakuya's funeral.

"Does everyone except me believe that he is dead?" Ichigo asked quietly. Rukia visibly calmed down as she looked at him. He was sitting on the bed, looking down, not meeting her eyes even when he spoke.

"Yes", she replied, almost whispering in her attempt to hide the tears that threatened to spill over.

"Well I still don't", he said defiantly, looking up at her with a determined expression on his face.

"Well he is! You saw the battle site – what, do you think he's underground or something?!" Rukia shouted in annoyance. Ichigo stared at her as she abruptly turned and stormed out of his quarters and the barracks.

" 'Underground'?" Ichigo repeated thoughtfully. He jumped to his feet and left, not following Rukia, but still leaving the barracks.

* * *

"Why is it that you want Aizen back so badly?" Hitsugaya asked the two arrancars in the cell in front of him.

"Yeah, I mean, it's been almost three years...why now?" Rangiku asked. Due to the fact that they had been expecting more invasions, the two arrancars were being held in the Senzaikyu, the prison which once held those awaiting execution on Sokyoku Hill – before the Sokyoku was destroyed some time previously.

"We are here to rescue Lord Aizen!" Loly said.

"Yeah, just like Aizen-sama would do for us!" Menoly added.

Hitsugaya sighed as he stepped outside, leaving Rangiku to try and get something useful out of the two arrancars.

"Hey Shiro-chan!" Momo said cheerfully, making her way along the bridge.

"I still don't think this will work", Hitsugaya said. "What makes Head Captain Yamamoto think that anyone else will be able to get anything from them?"

"Maybe he thinks that some of the rest of us may be able to get them to talk?" Momo suggested.

"I don't think it's that they're not talking, I think it's that they don't know anything", Hitsugaya remarked. Rangiku emerged through the door behind him.

"Your turn then, Momo?" Rangiku asked.

"Yep", she nodded in reply. "Izuru will be along in a moment, you don't have to wait with me, Shiro-chan."

"I've told you before not to call me that", Hitsugaya muttered as he and Rangiku walked away – although he knew she'd ignore him anyway and continue to use the nickname – she always did.

As Hitsugaya and Rangiku went down the side of the Sokyoku Hill, having passed Izuru at the top, they also passed a few others who were on their way to question the prisoners as well. After a few minutes, they realised that at least one battle was going on, as a wave of reiatsu, likely from Kenpachi, burnt up an entire street, easily visible from their vantage point still halfway up the stairs of the Hill.

"It seems we are being attacked again", Rangiku pointed out. "Shall we join the fight, Captain?" He nodded in reply, and the two of them ran down the Hill, hoping that they would be able to reach the various battles they now sensed waging before any other shinigami were killed – especially given the casualties of the previous major invasion a few days previously.

* * *

Grimmjow was wandering through the seireitei, looking for Ichigo's reiatsu, when he instead encountered two other shinigami.

"I'm looking for Ichigo Kurosaki", he growled at them.

"Oh, now I'm just offended", the shinigami in the pink kimono said, pushing up the rim of his hat.

"Well, we did miss the last invasion", the other one said, drawing his zanpakuto.

Grimmjow growled in annoyance, releasing a cero from each fist, aiming for the two shinigami. Both used shunpo to avoid the attack.

"Can't you do better than that?" the dark-haired shinigami asked, his hat slipping to the ground.

"Only because I want to get this over with so I can fight Ichigo again...we left our last battle unfinished after all", Grimmjow replied. "Grind, Pantera."

"I guess he won't be so easy after all", Shunsui said, smiling.

"I agree", Jushiro said. "All Waves, Rise Now and Become my Shield, Lightning, Strike Now and Become my Blade, Sogyo no Kotowari."

"Flower Wind Rage and Flower God Roar, Heavenly Wind Rage and Heavenly Demon Sneer, Katen Kyokotsu." Both shinigami released their shikai to face the arrancar standing opposite them in his Resurreción form.

* * *

"Play, Kinshara", a smooth voice said, before a released zanpakuto flew towards Harribel, who was walking purposefully through the streets of the seireitei, just as she had done a few days previously. The zanpakuto was in the form of a golden whip with a flower attached to the end, which the wielder seemed to be trying to attach to Harribel in some way. Harribel prevented the flower from striking her by drawing her own zanpakuto and releasing reishi, which she had quickly gathered in the hollow portion of the blade.

"If you didn't stop me last time, what makes you think you can now?" she asked.

"Just because you defeated Shinji, doesn't mean I can't defeat you", came the reply, as the shinigami put his hand up towards his face.

However, before he could do anything, Yamamoto stepped into the battle.

"That power is not necessary here, Captain Otoribashi", Yamamoto intoned. "It was bad enough that Captain Hirako chose to hollowfy before using his bankai – you shall not do the same. I'm sure this enemy will be easy enough to defeat." Rose stepped backwards deferentially, allowing the Head Captain to take the battle.

* * *

Rukia was walking down the street, returning to the Kuchiki residence after once again trying to talk to Ichigo – and once again he refused to do anything as part of her brother's funeral, even though she was fairly certain that they had been in love with each other. She suddenly sensed a familiar reiatsu nearby – and it wasn't a friendly one. She drew her zanpakuto.

"Hey, Rukia!" Renji shouted as he ran down the street, approaching from somewhere behind her. She didn't turn, instead remaining facing in the other direction, her zanpakuto gripped slightly in her hands. "What is it?" he asked, as he stopped beside her.

"I sensed something", she replied seriously.

"Are you sure?" Renji asked. However, he didn't get the answer from her, rather from the arrancar that dropped down in front of them from the roof of a nearby building.

"I see we meet again...and you aren't alone this time. I was going to give you another chance to defeat me – but perhaps you're too injured?" Mosqueda asked.

"Rukia, leave this to me", Renji said quietly.

"But –"

"He took you down before, and you aren't fully healed."

"If I was still injured then Captain Unohana wouldn't –" She stopped mid-sentence as Renji stepped in front of her, drawing his zanpakuto and releasing his shikai to attack Mosqueda. Rukia knew that he would soon have to use his bankai – none of his attacks were getting through – so, she closed her eyes and focussed on her reiatsu.

* * *

Kenpachi was wandering through the streets of the seireitei looking for his Fourth Seat, with Yachiru on his back directing him. He reached a junction in the streets and looked left and right.

"He's that way Kenny!" Yachiru shouted, pointing down the road to their left. As Kenpachi turned to run in that direction, someone approached from the other direction:

"Who's that way?" Kenpachi turned to see Ichigo.

"Oh, I was sure he was that way", Yachiru complained, pouting slightly.

"Why were you looking for me?" Ichigo asked.

"Why are you coming from the direction of the squad 4 barracks?" Kenpachi countered.

"Well, I –"

"Never mind, it doesn't matter", Kenpachi interrupted. "How about we go back to the barracks and spar? I could use a good fight – we've had to hang around guarding what's left of the squad 1 barracks and the only attack was those two idiots the other day."

"You mean Wernarr and Zodd? They were probably sent to see if we were guarding the area", Ichigo reasoned. "Now they know we are, they might send someone more difficult next time, so that they can recover Aizen, if that's even their purpose."

"Not the point, I still want a fight", Kenpachi said back. "Well?"

Before Ichigo could answer, three arrancars dropped down to the ground to face them, emerging from a Garganta somewhere above the area, which had now closed.

"This could work too", Kenpachi grinned, recognising the reiatsu of the three who had levelled the squad 1 barracks and killed a large proportion of the squad members.

"Yay! Go Kenny!" Yachiru cheered, jumping onto a nearby rooftop to get a good view.

"Go and find another fight, Ichigo, these are mine", Kenpachi grinned. Ichigo nodded, using shunpo to leave, as he tried to sense any large sources of reiatsu that may indicate other enemies, especially those who were not yet involved in battles.

* * *

"I still don't get why we have to be on duty for a double shift and they don't", Ikkaku grumbled.

"I expect it's because he's the Captain and she's the Lieutenant", Yumichika replied smoothly. The two of them were standing around the remains of the levelled squad 1 barracks.

"So why isn't Ichigo here?" Ikkaku continued. His boyfriend sighed.

"I think the Captain has been trying to give him as much time off as possible – not that it matters. Ichigo still won't accept that Captain Kuchiki is gone, and he also won't go and look for him either...he says he won't break orders."

"Yeah well, it's still annoying, and it's not like anything's going on here."

"There was that attack yesterday", Yumichika reminded him.

"Yeah, but they were easy! Why can't we have someone at least somewhat difficult to fight?"

As if in response, a Garganta opened in front of them and several arrancars stepped out to face the gathered shinigami.

"This might be more like it", Ikkaku grinned, drawing his zanpakuto. Behind the two squad 11 officers, the rest of the gathered shinigami had noticed the arrival of enemies, and Sui-Feng and Omaeda jumped to stand beside Ikkaku and Yumichika.

"What do you want here?" Sui-Feng demanded of them.

"Yeah, surely you know that the squad barracks is empty", Omaeda added, causing Sui-Feng to glare at him.

"They don't need to know where the Head Captain is or is not", she growled at him under her breath.

"Er...yeah, sorry Captain", he said. The arrancars had remained silent throughout this exchange, and were still quiet now.

"Do you think they can speak?" Yumichika asked.

"Like it matters", Ikkaku responded, jumping in to fight the nearest arrancar.

The arrancars still didn't speak, but moved to attack the various shinigami. The one Ikkaku was fighting used some sort of water attack to throw him away from the others, separating him from the others to fight him. Ikkaku grinned in response, glad for a more skilled opponent and for his own fight, as he literally jumped into the attack.

Omaeda took the opponent which had the ability to armour itself, figuring that his zanpakuto would be better for the battle, while Sui-Feng's opponent fired several massive cero blasts at her, which also separated her from the others. Some other arrancars, with no apparent abilities, passed her to attack the rest of squads 2 and 11, and Yumichika took the arrancar who did not go after any of the others, whose abilities were still unknown.

* * *

**Next Chapter - The second invasion continues!**


	6. Chapter 6

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? Sequel to Kill for You (which you should read first or some of this won't make sense)

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, ShunsuixJushiro, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

The first thing Izuru noticed when he arrived at the Senzaikyu was that the door was open and Momo was on the ground, having clearly been taken down by some sort of reishi attack. The second thing he noticed was that the two female arrancars were not in their cell. As the door started to close behind him, he moved, blocking the door open with his zanpakuto. He wrenched the door back open to see the two arrancars looking at him defiantly.

"You won't fight us", one of them said.

"Yeah, after all, shouldn't you try to save your friend?" the other added.

Izuru turned back to Momo, wondering what to do. His question was answered for him when he sensed a familiar reiatsu approaching, remembering that squad 9 were the next ones who were going to question the prisoners. He turned back to Momo and knelt down to heal her injuries. The two arrancars ran across the bridge to the top of the Hill, but got no further, as the joint lietenants of squad 9 arrived.

* * *

Harribel was easily avoiding the various fire attacks being thrown at her by the Head Captain, and as a large jet of fire aimed for her, she went into her Resurreción form, the water heart which surrounded her protecting her from his attack.

"I see you are in fact a formidable opponent", Yamamoto admitted. Rose had moved some way back, but was still observing the battle. "Bankai", Yamamoto continued. "Zanka no Tachi." Rose could feel the heat even from where his vantage point on a roof some way away, and he expected that others fighting would be able to as well.

Yamamoto seemed to be winning now, as her water attacks evaporated into steam before they made contact, or, if they did hit him, he remained unaffected by the minuscule amount of water which actually got past the intense heat.

"I will finish this quickly", Yamamoto declared. "Zanka no Tachi, Minami: Kaka Jumanokushi Daisojin." Between himself and Harribel, hundreds of blackened skeletons arose. "The corpses of those I've killed", Yamamoto explained.

"Cascada", Harribel said, firing a huge cascade of water over the corpses, reducing them back to ash on the ground. Yamamoto's eyes narrowed.

"Zanka no Tachi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin." A blast of concentrated heat flew towards Harribel, enveloping the arrancar and incinerating her from existence. Yamamoto released his bankai and resealed his zanpakuto, assuming that he had completed the battle sufficiently quick enough to avoid any bad effects that could arise from such an intense heat in one place.

Although he thought this, Rose's position allowed him to see that the wave of heat Yamamoto had created had in fact collided with a wave of cold from another powerful bankai, creating hailstorms over the area of the seireitei near to the squad 7 barracks. Rose decided to go and make sure that no-one had been caught up in it, and also to clear a path, as several parts of the seireitei now had no direct route to squad 4, and, as the battles concluded, the participants would likely need a route to squad 4 for medical treatment.

* * *

Yumichika's opponent moved away from the others, the shinigami following him. When they were a short way away, the arrancar turned abruptly, and Yumichika drew his zanpakuto.

"Can you actually speak then?"

"We are the Fracciones of the former eighth espada, Szayelaporro Granz. Thanks to him, our abilities are...different than those of other arrancars."

"You mean you're the subjects of his experiments? Well, what are your powers then?" Yumichika asked. "Anything beautiful?"

The arrancar lifted his arms, creating a dome of darkness, cutting off Yumichika's vision of the others. He looked around then back to his opponent, but he found that the arrancar was also obscured by the darkness. In response, he released his shikai:

"Bloom, Fuji Kujaku." The zanpakuto's blade split into four.

"You will not be able to defeat me now, as you cannot see me", Yumichika heard echoing around him.

"But that's your mistake", Yumichika said.

"I doubt that", he heard again.

"It is actually – because your powers have also made it so that no-one can see me, have they not?"

"Yes."

"Then it's your mistake. Split and Deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku." The blades of Yumichika's zanpakuto extended into glowing vines, resembling the feathers of a peacock. They sought out his opponent through the darkness, lighting up the area, although the dome still separated from Yumichika and the arrancar from the others. As the flowers bloomed from the buds, the arrancar exploded in a column of darkness. The vines rapidly retreated, Yumichika resealing his zanpakuto and sheathing it as the dome of darkness exploded apart around him.

As he surveyed the scene, he realised that the others had defeated their opponents as well, all of whom had exploded when they died, possibly a result of the experiments of the former espada. He moved to join Ikkaku.

"Get a good fight inside that thing?" Ikkaku asked him.

"It was actually really easy – once he started talking, I got him before he did more than try to hide in the darkness."

"It appears we have defeated the enemies here", Sui-Feng noted.

"Do you think there are other enemies in the seireitei?" Omaeda asked.

"We haven't heard any sort of retreat order like before", Yumichika pointed out.

"If there are others we should go and look", Ikkau suggested. "After all, we need to fight them, right?"

"We should stay at our post – if they are after Aizen then they will come here", Sui-Feng said.

"But –" Ikkaku began.

"And if they do reach here, then that means they have defeated others on the way, so we can be sure they will be powerful", Yumichika said to his boyfriend. Ikkaku grinned at that.

"I guess you're right", he said. The four of them stood back, guarding the remnants of the squad one barracks, while other battles were occurring in the seireitei around them.

* * *

After Ichigo had left, Kenpachi turned back to the three of them.

"You'll have to do for now...at least until I can find a powerful opponent."

"Do you really think we are that weak?" one of them asked.

"You are like this", Kenpachi responded.

"Very well. Strangle to Death, Anaconda."

"Thrust, Cierva!"

"Devour, Leona!"

All three arrancars entered their Resurreción form, then tore off their left arms to create Ayon.

"Well, this is at least better than last time", Kenpachi stated, thinking back to Chelute.

"Ayon destroyed that squad barracks!"

"And he is more powerful than then as we are in our Resurreción forms!"

Kenpachi just grinned at them. Ayon swung his fist towards Kenpachi, but the captain easily blocked it just with the flat of his sword. Ayon continued to attack, but he couldn't make contact, as Kenpachi blocked every hit with his zanpakuto. When one hit finally did make contact, as Ayon punched Kenpachi in the chest, the shinigami was seemingly unaffected, not even moving backwards as he grinned.

"You'll have to try harder than that", he pointed out. Ayon growled in response and grew larger, some of the buildings being smashed as he grew too large for the street they were standing in. Kenpachi sighed. "Is that really all?" he asked. "Fine then", he continued, not waiting for a response as he thrust his zanpakuto into the ground, launching a wave of energy which destroyed the whole street and caused Ayon to hit the ground. He shrunk back to his previous size as he roared, and Kenpachi repeated the attack, completely obliterating the beast.

The Tres Bestias groaned in pain, as the destruction of Ayon had caused their arms to be destroyed as well. Their Resurreción forms faded away as they sunk to the ground.

"We will not be defeated so easily", Apacci gasped, trying to stand up.

"Yeah, whatever", Kenpachi said as he cut her in two. He did the same to the other two arrancars as well.

Yachiru jumped down onto his shoulders from the rooftop she had been on.

"I think you went too far", she said thoughtfully, looking down the street which had been turned into a long crater.

"Who cares? Now then, let's see if we can find any stronger opponents."

"Okay, go that way!" Yachiru shouted, directing Kenpachi away from the destruction he had caused, although her directions were probably too inaccurate to result in her finding him an actual opponent.

* * *

Komamura growled as he recognised the nearby reiatsu. He concluded that the seireitei was under attack again and that the arrancar attacking his own squad's barracks was the coward from before. He went outside and saw the arrancar standing nearby.

"You again", Friegen said, spreading his arms.

"You fought dishonourably last time, allowing me to kill your comrades without even attempting to fight me."

"I completed my mission", Friegen reasoned. "And they were just some of Szayelaporro's old experiments, just like some of the others who are here now – they aren't real arrancars, not like us."

"That isn't the point!" Komamura barked. "Roar, Tenken!"

Iba emerged from the squad barracks to see Komamura's shikai easily defeating the enemy.

"You seem to have had such easy battles, Captain", he noted, as Komamura looked at the body of the defeated arrancar.

"Perhaps so, but others may not – we should offer our assistance to the other battles, as I doubt he and the experiments he mentioned are the only ryoka here...there is probably another invasion, with the assistance of the information they gathered last time."

"Of course, Captain", Iba replied, as the two of them left their barracks. Their suspicions were confirmed when they found themselves caught up in a weather system, resulting from hot and cold bankai in opposing directions. "Yeah, there are definitely more powerful opponents than that guy here", Iba said, although Komamura probably couldn't hear him over the howling wind and hailstones.

* * *

"Hihio Zabimaru!" Renji shouted, activating his bankai. He continued to attack Mosqueda, fighting from a distance, while the arrancar kept trying to get closer. Renji realised that Mosqueda's method of attack must be close-range, so he had moved into the air to fight Mosqueda, to keep him away from Rukia, who was...standing in the same position with her eyes closed. Renji was about to shout at her to get moving, but was distracted as Mosqueda punched him in the gut, causing him to be thrown backwards.

As Mosqueda followed, Renji attacked again, firing a blast of reishi from Zabimaru's mouth. However, the arrancar avoided this with sonido, and Renji was struck in the abdomen again, the reishi being released from between the tips of Mosqueda's weapon causing more damage than Renji had expected. Before he could react, Mosqueda hit him again, and continued to do so:

"Uno...Dos...Cientos!" At the final word, Mosqueda dealt the final blow, throwing Renji to the ground. As the arrancar looked around, he realised that their battle had moved them some way away from his intended opponent, so he returned to face her, noting the chill in the air as he approached.

The arrancar landed on the street in front of Rukia, noting the cold in the air and the building reiatsu within his opponent.

"I suppose I should give you a serious fight...after all, it seems you've been gathering reishi for some sort of final attack, hmm?" Mosqueda asked, going into his Resurreción form. Rukia didn't respond, but she did open her eyes. "Oh, so you are still alive then?" Mosqueda continued. He looked down at the ground, which had begun to freeze beneath their feet. "What...?"

Mosqueda used his Rugir del Dragón to fire blasts of energy towards Rukia, but they froze in the air, shattering before they even reached her.

"How are you doing this?" he asked.

"Hakka no Togame", was the last thing the arrancar heard, as there was a blinding pillar of white, and he faded from existence.

* * *

The two arrancars had been forced to separate to fight, Loly facing Shuhei while Menoly fought Mashiro. The arrancars were trying to quickly beat their opponents so that they could escape, not just to get to Aizen, but also as they sensed that the captain of squad 9 was approaching.

Mashiro had called her Hollow mask soon after the battle started, and had already caused a fair amount of damage to her enemy using various kicks. Loly realised she had to use her Resurreción form in order to fight:

"Poison, Escolopendra!" Loly shouted, as Mashiro stood in the sky above her. With her poison, she quickly eroded away Mashiro's mask, causing the green-haired shingami to fall from the air, although she was caught by Kensei. Loly narrowed her eyes in annoyance –  _damnit, I wanted to get to Aizen-sama first!,_ she reminded herself. Suddenly, Menoly hit the ground nearby, having been defeated and split in half by Shuhei's shikai. Shuhei used shunpo to stand beside his captain, and Mashiro jumped out of Kensei's arms with a glare to stand next to him as well.

"Why can't you just give us back Lord Aizen?!" Loly shouted, jumping to attack them.

"Blast Away, Tachikaze", was the only answer she got, before blades composed of wind cut her to pieces and she evaporated into nothing. Kensei resealed his zanpakuto and sheathed it, his two lieutenants following him back down Sokyoku Hill.

"I could have done that you know!" Mashiro complained, when they had been moving for a few minutes.

"There are other battles", Shuhei remarked. "Shouldn't we help?"

"I think they've mostly been concluded – the reishi you're sensing is probably from that", Kensei responded, indicating an area where there were hailstorms. The three of them paused on the stairs for a moment.

"What's causing it?" Shuhei wondered out loud.

"Head Captain Yamamoto's bankai is creating heat over there, which is hitting a cold wave and causing storms", Kensei responded, indicating the direction Yamamoto was in.

" 'A cold wave'?" Mashiro repeated.

"Captain Hitsugaya's zanpakuto creates ice", Shuhei pointed out.

"We should still go and offer aid to anyone who needs it", Kensei said. The three of them continued, making their way down the hill fairly rapidly to offer assistance to the participants of the battles concluding around them.

* * *

Grimmjow stared at the two shinigami opposite him, wanting to get back to finding Ichigo. He turned slightly as he sensed that Ichigo was not that far away, although he was in another battle, with that annoying Ebern. He faced his two enemies again, releasing five bombs towards the two of them.

Jushiro used shunpo to avoid the attack, but Shunsui was nowhere to be seen.

"Already defeated one of you, I see", Grimmjow grinned. He fired blades of reishi at Jushiro, but the white-haired shinigami merely held up his zanpakuto, absorbing the attack with one blade, while simultaneously firing an attack from the other blade. Grimmjow hit the ground and Jushiro stepped over to him.

"I reflected your own attack back at you", he explained. "Good thing it didn't hit me, isn't it?"

"What about your friend?" Grimmjow grinned. "Got one of you –" He stopped himself as Shunsui emerged from the shadows on the side of a building, standing above the espada. As Grimmjow forced himself to his feet, Jushiro moved backwards.

"Have you ever heard of the game where the highest opponent wins?" Shunsui asked. Grimmjow didn't respond, merely firing a cero blast towards Shunsui. However, before it connected, Jushiro used shunpo to stand in front of Shunsui, again reflecting the espada's attack back on him.

As Grimmjow hit the floor again, he growled in annoyance, opening a Garganta.

"I'll be back to fight Kurosaki – unless he loses to that idiot Ebern, in which case he doesn't deserve to fight me anyway!" Grimmjow called to them, as the Garganta closed behind him.

"Well then, that was easy", Shunsui said. "Well, we've helped this time...so, how about finishing that hot springs trip?"

"Perhaps another time, when we're not being invaded?" Jushiro asked, smiling at his boyfriend, who was...suddenly right in front of him. "Shunsui?" The dark-haired shinigami responded by pressing a kiss to Jushiro's lips.

"Just to keep me going until we defeat them all", he explained, before moving away. Jushiro shook his head before he followed, noticing the chill in the air in one direction.

"Hitsugaya must be fighting over there", Shunsui remarked.

"Yes...Hitsugaya", Jushiro said, speaking as if he knew something the other didn't.

"And I think Yama-jii is fighting as well, can you feel that heat?"

"Yes", Jushiro replied. "We'd better avoid going between the two, or we'll end up caught in some sort of storm. Let's go this way." Shunsui followed him, both of them avoiding the storm resulting from the collision of hot and cold reishi.

* * *

After he had left Kenpachi, Ichigo had wandered through the streets of the seireitei, looking for any other arrancars. He soon came across one:

"So, another willing victim, I see", the arrancar goaded.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Fourth Seat of Squad 11."

"Asguiaro Ebern, Privaron Espada number 102. And you won't beat me."

"What makes you think that?" Ichigo questioned, eyes narrowing at his enemy.

"I killed a Captain, I think I can handle a fourth seat like you."

"Which Captain was that?" Ichigo asked, although he already knew what the answer would be.

"Only one died, right? So, are you going to try to avenge him?"

"I don't need to, he's not dead, I'm sure he's not. I don't know what you did to him, or where he is, but he isn't dead", Ichigo said firmly. Ebern just grinned and revealed his weapon – a cannon capable of firing blasts of reishi. Ichigo looked at it for a moment, before looking back to the arrancar:

"Where is Captain Kuchiki?" he asked.

"I told you, I killed him. If you don't believe me then that's fine with me – after all, you'll be joining him soon enough." Ebern fired several shots from his cannon, but they were countered by Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho.

"I'll ask only once more – where is he?"

"If that's the last time you'll ask, then this is the last time I'll tell you that he's dead. Gone. Not coming back."

Ebern fired more blasts at Ichigo, who avoided them using shunpo, appearing behind Ebern. He lifted his arm to direct a kido attack at the arrancar.

"Hado Number 4 –"

"Byakurai."

A blast of lightning shot past Ichigo and hit Ebern, throwing him back into a nearby building, which crumbled as the arrancar hit the ground. Ichigo turned to see who had joined the battle, his eyes widening as he saw...

* * *

**Next Chapter - Who is interrupting Ichigo's battle? The end of the invasion and its aftermath!**


	7. Chapter 7

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? 

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, ShunsuixJushiro, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

**Previously:**

Ebern fired more blasts at Ichigo, who avoided them using shunpo, appearing behind Ebern. He lifted his arm to direct a kido attack at the arrancar.

"Hado Number 4 –"

"Byakurai."

A blast of lightning shot past Ichigo and hit Ebern, throwing him back into a nearby building, which crumbled as the arrancar hit the ground. Ichigo turned to see who had joined the battle, his eyes widening as he saw...

* * *

**Now:**

It was Byakuya.

"Where the hell have you been?" Ichigo asked.

"I think you already know", Byakuya replied, moving to stand next to Ichigo.

"You're still injured", Ichigo noticed.

"It's nothing that cannot wait until I finish this battle."

"Shouldn't you know that you can't take a battle away from a member of squad 11? I know you like to pretend that I'm on your squad, especially with how much time I spend at your barracks training with you or Renji, but this is my fight."

"It is not. I was fighting him some days ago, and I will finish it now."

"Byakuya –" The two of them jumped apart as several cannon blasts were fired at them. They ended up on opposite sides of the arrancar.

"If you two are done with your stupid argument, I'll tell you that it doesn't matter – I can take you both on", Ebern said.

"You did not defeat me before", Byakuya remarked.

"I injured you enough that no-one found you for three days."

"No-one was looking", Ichigo said. Byakuya looked at him slightly, his slight change of facial expression revealing his annoyance to Ichigo –  _although I'm sure anyone else would just see his normal expression,_ Ichigo remarked to himself.

From the opposite side of the arrancar, Ichigo saw Byakuya raise his arm, and copied him. Simultaneously, both incanted:

"Hado Number 4, Byakurai." However, Ebern used sonido to avoid the attack, and the two spells collided. Most of the reishi was cancelled out, but Ichigo was forced to use shunpo to avoid the backlash, which would otherwise have hit him.

"Even when injured your kido is better than mine", he pointed out, as he reappeared beside Byakuya.

"That may be as squad 11 doesn't really care for kido abilities. If you were on my squad, however –"

"Are we really going to get into that argument now?"

"That just proves our information is correct", Ebern said from behind them. Both turned rapidly, drawing their zanpakutos to face their enemy.

"What information is that?" Ichigo asked.

"You still don't know what Friegen got from your libraries?"

"We know what was taken, but you'll have to be more specific about how it is relevant here", Ichigo stated.

"Squads don't work well with each other, and individual members tend to argue", Ebern stated. "So you two won't be able to work together for long enough to defeat me."

"Actually, we work together just fine – and we fight together well too...like when we combine our bankai", Ichigo responded.

"There's no such thing as a combined bankai", Ebern said. "Don't mock me."

"No, but we can combine our abilities in a way others can't", Ichigo said cryptically. Byakuya looked at him in confusion. "Remember when you first saw what my bankai could do", Ichigo continued, under his breath. Byakuya's confused look remained for a moment before he nodded his understanding.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

"Tensa Zangetsu."

Ebern moved up into the air, but he still couldn't see exactly how they could combine their powers in the way they said they could. Ichigo jumped up towards him, leaving Byakuya standing on the ground below, and used his Getsuga Tensho to prevent the cannon fire from hitting him as he struck the cannon with his black zanpakuto.

"This isn't combining your attacks", Ebern mocked. "I saw his abilities last time I fought him – he can't attack when you're this close to me!" The arrancar laughed, but was soon cut short as a wave of petals overtook him and Ichigo.

Ebern hit the floor hard, completely bloodied from the wave of petal-blades which had cut him to pieces. One arm and one leg had been cut off, and he was fairly certain his left eye was gone, not to mention the blood pouring from countless wounds, shallow and deep, which covered his body. Ichigo landed on the ground beside him, unscathed even though he had been caught in Byakuya's attack as well.

"How...?" Ebern tried, although his voice was strained even by just uttering that one word.

"My bankai was developed purely to fight Byakuya's", Ichigo explained. "My speed can beat his blades, so they won't hit me – you didn't have that advantage, especially not when you were focussed on fighting me – and mocking us."

As the defeated arrancar died, Byakuya slumped forwards slightly, his resealed zanpakuto returning to its sheath. Ichigo pulled Byakuya's arm around his shoulders and helped him to walk towards the barracks of squad 4.

"Should you really have just fought?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm sure you can convince your Captain that it was acceptable for me to fight alongside you", Byakuya remarked.

"I meant because you were already injured...was I right about where you were by the way?"

"Yes...in my previous battle with that opponent, his last attack weakened the ground, and I fell through into squad four's relief tunnels beneath."

"I thought so." After a moment of silence as the two of them slowly made their way through the streets, Byakuya looked towards Ichigo.

"You said no-one was looking."

"Hmm?"

"During the battle, you said that no-one was looking for me."

"Er – well..."

"Ichigo", Byakuya said firmly.

"Okay, well, it's just that...you know how I was on leave with Renji? Well, we came back only to be told that the attack was over – they called us too late I guess. Anyway, we went to squad 4, where we saw Rukia – she's fine now by the way, she wasn't exactly defeated, it was more like a draw – and, er...Captain Unohana told us that you were dead."

"Dead?"

"Yeah, apparently all traces of your reiatsu had vanished at the site of your battle, no-one could find you or any trace of you, so they said you were dead."

"I see."

"I kept saying that they were wrong, that you were alive, but no-one would listen. They even started planning your funeral and figuring out who should be the new Captain of squad 6."

"You didn't come to look for me", Byakuya noticed. Ichigo sighed.

"Squads 2 and 11 were ordered to guard the remains of squad 1's barracks – it seems that all this is about Aizen, by the way – and I figured you'd be more annoyed if I came to look for you and broke orders than if I just waited for you to show yourself. I did spend the time I was off-duty thinking about where you could be, but I couldn't think of anything...until Rukia...she said something about you being dead, not just underground or something."

"I see."

"My orders meant that I had to go on duty, and I wasn't sure if I'd be right...I went to squad 4 and asked Hanataro if he could see if you were down there – I guess he found you."

"He did, and he did start to heal my injuries. The battle did not kill me, but I was injured enough that I couldn't remain conscious for long."

"You lasted three days – were you thinking about me to get yourself through it?" Ichigo teased.

"Perhaps I was thinking about how I should punish you for choosing the wrong squad."

"You really are never going to give up on that, are you?" Ichigo asked, looking at his boyfriend. Before either of them could say anything else, Ichigo was forced to use shunpo, to avoid the hailstorm which had suddenly appeared. He landed on a nearby roof, still holding Byakuya, as the two of them looked at the storm.

"A collision of hot and cold reishi", Byakuya stated.

"Guess we'll have to go round it", Ichigo sighed. "And, as for punishing me...when you're better, okay?" Ichigo said softly, blushing slightly.

"So you admit that you have done something which requires punishment?" Byakuya asked.

"No – I..." Ichigo attempted, blushing further. He was glad when the increasing wind made it impossible for them to continue their conversation, as he found a route around the storm to help his injured boyfriend to squad 4's barracks.

* * *

A few days later, Ichigo had decided to visit Byakuya, who was resting up in his manor. Although Hanataro was a good medic, which was one of the reasons Ichigo had asked him to look in the relief tunnels for Byakuya, the captain of squad 6 hadn't allowed the seventh seat of squad 4 to finish –  _probably as he sensed Ebern nearby,_ Ichigo said to himself, as he walked onto the Kuchiki estate and towards the house. As a result of fighting while still injured, Byakuya was taking a while to heal, and was still off duty.

"Hey, Ichigo!" Rukia called to him, interrupting him from his thoughts.

"Hey Rukia, how are you feeling?"

"Good, I guess, although still tired from the battle."

"Yeah, I heard your bankai's pretty amazing – everyone thought it was Hitsugaya creating that cold wave, so I guess it's powerful – and beautiful, at least according to Renji."

"Yeah", she said, blushing. "I guess I didn't realise he was still conscious enough to see me use it."

"He's probably more annoyed that he got beaten by an opponent that you then defeated."

"Maybe, but the arrancar was underestimating me, and Renji did fight him for a while first, so..." Rukia trailed off. "Anyway, are you here to see nii-sama?"

"Yeah, is he okay?"

"Fine, not that he'd tell me if he wasn't", Rukia sighed. "Listen...I'm sorry, you know, for not believing you, it's just –"

"Rukia", Ichigo interrupted. "If I told you Renji was dead, would you really just accept it?"

"No", she replied sheepishly. "But then,  _I'd_  go and look for him, rip the seireitei to pieces to find him, not get Hanataro to go."

"Yeah, but you weren't ordered to guard squad 1", Ichigo reminded her. "And Byakuya would be more annoyed if I broke orders than if I just trusted him...and I didn't even consider he could have fallen through the ground until you suggested it."

"Technically I was just getting pissed at you and saying he wasn't anywhere..."

"Let's just leave it for now, okay?" Ichigo said, noticing Byakuya coming out of the house.

"Is there a reason the two of you are speaking outside?" he asked as he came over to the two of them.

"Do we need a reason?" Ichigo countered, realising that Rukia had spoken to him outside because she hadn't wanted Byakuya to overhear.

"I suppose not", Byakuya relented, voice still strained due to his injuries.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be in the hospital, nii-sama?" Rukia asked.

"According to Captain Unohana, I will be fine after a few days rest – where I rest is irrelevant."

"Rukia?" Renji called, as he came into the area. "Hey," he continued, jogging over to them, "how come we're all standing outside?"

"Rukia and Ichigo were being secretive", Byakuya said.

"Er – okay...how are you, Captain?" Renji asked.

"Perfectly well, thank you", Byakuya replied.

"Okay then...well...er – are you ready, Rukia?" Renji stuttered out.

"Sure", she said.

"And where are you two off to?" Byakuya asked in a threatening voice.

"We're going to celebrate with some of the others – Rangiku, Shuhei, Izuru, Ikkaku, Yumichika...I think Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku are going as well, although Captain Kyoraku said something about needing to finish at the hot springs or something..." Rukia trailed off thoughtfully.

"Do you want to join us, Ichigo?" Renji asked.

"No, I'm fine", Ichigo replied.

"Okay then, see you later!" Rukia called as she and Renji left the area, waving to him as they went off to get drunk and celebrate the victory over the arrancars.

"Do you not want to join them?" Byakuya asked.

"I can drink with them any time", Ichigo responded, turning to go into the house. "Shall we go inside? Don't want you to get too cold after all." He held the door open for Byakuya, who looked at him impassively for a moment. After several seconds of staring at each other, Byakuya relented to the chivalry when he realised Ichigo was going to be stubborn about the matter.

"I don't need to be taken care of like a helpless child", Byakuya pointed out, as he sat down on his couch. Ichigo sat down beside him.

"I'm not taking care of you – at least not like I would take care of a child", Ichigo responded. "But you did get injured, and you were down in those tunnels for three days...am I not allowed to want to make sure that you are okay? Besides, you are supposed to be resting."

"Very well", Byakuya said, standing up and motioning Ichigo to follow him. Ichigo didn't notice the smirk that briefly graced Byakuya's features as he followed the older man into the next room – Byakuya's bedroom.

"Byakuya...?"

"I am supposed to be resting, yes?"

"I guess so, but – I was hoping we could talk about everything", Ichigo said, not meeting Byakuya's gaze. Byakuya looked at him for a moment, then sat down on the edge of the bed, motioning Ichigo to sit down beside him. Ichigo did so, but remained silent.

"What is bothering you so much?" Byakuya asked.

"Everyone was so willing to believe you were dead, I just..." Ichigo trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"Many of squad 1 died when their barracks were destroyed, and the arrancars did successfully kill several shinigami before they encountered higher level officers, who fought them until the retreat the first time, and the defeat the second time. Given the death toll even from the first attack...is it really so hard to believe that one more person died?"

"Yeah, but you're a captain."

"And they looked for my reiatsu but could not find it, did they not?"

"Yeah", Ichigo nodded.

"Ichigo...the battle is over, we won – your friends are all celebrating right now, and yet you are here with me, wondering about something irrelevant. The arrancars have been almost completely extinguished – I doubt they will attack again in the near future, if ever."

"Do you think I'm being stupid?" Ichigo asked, turning to look at his boyfriend. "Or am I sounding too much like a wimpy little girl or something?"

"You aren't being stupid – you are far too intelligent, after all, you were the one who determined where I was when squad 12 could not. You are a member of squad 11, so I would hardly call you 'wimpy', and as for being little or female..." Byakuya trailed off, reaching over to grab at Ichigo's crotch. Ichigo gasped as the unexpected pleasure coursed through him, as Byakuya leaned in to whisper in his ear: "You are hardly either of those, now are you?"

"I – ah! – guess not", Ichigo stuttered, as Byakuya continued to massage his hardening cock through Ichigo's clothing. After only a few moments, his resolve snapped, and he pushed Byakuya back onto the bed, climbing on top of him and kissing him passionately, as he rolled their hips together. Byakuya kissed back, but as Ichigo shifted, Byakuya made a small sound of pain, causing Ichigo to pull back, pushing himself up so that he was sitting on the bed.

"You're injured", Ichigo reminded him.

"Yes, I do remember that, now are you going to continue?" Byakuya asked, sitting up as well.

"No...we can't, I don't want to hurt you", Ichigo said.

"Then don't deny me", Byakuya said, smirking as his lips found the juncture where Ichigo's neck met his shoulder. He bit down, marking the redhead and making him writhe against the older shingami, slipping back down to lie on the bed. This time, it was Byakuya who was on top, kissing Ichigo and rolling his hips, making sure to avoid hurting himself again.

"Ah! No – Bya-kuya! I...you...injured, and...urgh", Ichigo moaned, as Byakuya slipped his hand inside his confining underwear, expertly rubbing at his cock.

"If you have to be so focussed on my injuries, then call this pain relief", Byakuya suggested.

"Fine", Ichigo said firmly, before reversing their positions once again, Byakuya's head falling against the pillows as Ichigo quickly divested them both of all their clothing. Ichigo gave him one last kiss, before trailing his lips down Byakuya's body, sucking marks between the bandages covering sections of the older man's chest, before he finally reached his target. Byakuya moaned deeply as Ichigo deep-throated him in one go, gripping the sheets to prevent himself thrusting into the welcoming wet heat that was Ichigo's mouth.

"Go ahead", Ichigo whispered, pulling back for a moment to look up at Byakuya. "Fuck my mouth." Byakuya groaned at the words, but did as Ichigo had said, gripping the orange hair and rolling his hips. Ichigo's moans around Byakuya's cock made the clan head realise that the younger shingami was touching himself as he sucked Byakuya's cock. This thought drove Byakuya close to the edge, and with one particularly hard suck, he came into Ichigo's waiting mouth, groaning out the redhead's name as he emptied himself, Ichigo swallowing it all. Ichigo moaned one last time as the softening cock slipped from his mouth, shuddering and gasping as his own orgasm washed over him.

Ichigo pulled himself up the bed to lean his head on Byakuya's chest, covered with red bite marks between the bandages.

"Byakuya –"

"I was told to remain in bed as much as possible", Byakuya interrupted him. "I am in the bed, aren't I?"

"I'm pretty sure Captain Unohana meant to rest, not have sex!" Ichigo pointed out, looking up at his boyfriend. Byakuya just smirked, so Ichigo resettled his head on Byakuya's chest, pulling the covers up over both of them and yawning softly.

"And now you can rest as well", Byakuya stated. "As I have clearly tired you out."

"I could have rested with you without the sex", Ichigo grumbled.

"Very well, I will never again attempt anything sexual with you when you wish to sleep in my bed", Byakuya said.

"No – that's not what I meant!" Ichigo exclaimed. He looked up at Byakuya's smirking face, then glared, realising that Byakuya wouldn't actually do such a thing. "Bastard", he swore.

"Goodnight", Byakuya said, the smirk still audible in his voice.

"Yeah, 'night", Ichigo agreed, settling to sleep, still cuddled up against Byakuya with his head on the older shinigami's chest. Ichigo fell asleep to the sound of his boyfriend's heartbeat echoing in his ear, glad that he was safe and at home.

* * *

**Next Chapter - Byakuya and Renji want to take their relationships to the next level!**


	8. Chapter 8

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? 

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, ShunsuixJushiro, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

Ichigo woke up slowly, relishing in the warmth of Byakuya's arms wrapped around him. Byakuya tightened his arms and Ichigo shifted slightly. Noticing the clock, he realised that they would have to be getting up soon.

"Byakuya?" he said.

"Hmm?"

"It's almost time to be getting up."

"How about we stay in bed a little longer?" Byakuya asked.

"Everything's finally back to normal – the seireitei is fixed, everyone is back on duty, and you're fine too – and now you want to stay in bed?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"If you recall, I've wanted to have you remain in bed with me for some time now, but you always feel the need to run off."

"That's because I need to shower and change so that I can get into the barracks! You never stay with me, so you don't know how long that can take!"

"Hmm", Byakuya hummed, leaning in to press open-mouthed kisses along Ichigo's shoulders and the back of his neck. As he moved back slightly so that he could kiss down Ichigo's spine, Ichigo shifted away from him.

"We have to get up", he reminded Byakuya, rolling over so that he was facing his boyfriend – which was his mistake, as Byakuya took this an an invitation to continue, latching on to one of Ichigo's nipples and sucking hard.

Byakuya's hands ghosted down Ichigo's sides and then up the inside of his thighs, spreading his legs open. Ichigo tried to argue again, but his protests were cut off as Byakuya reached up to kiss him, settling his body between Ichigo's spread legs and grinding down. Ichigo moaned and arched upwards, causing their hardening cocks to rub together even more. Byakuya pulled back, smirking down at his now dishevelled boyfriend.

"Do you still want to get out of bed?" he asked teasingly, grinding down.

"Ah! Yes!" Ichigo said. Byakuya knew that Ichigo hadn't heard the question, and was in fact referring to his ministrations, but decided to take the opportunity to further tease the younger shinigami. He rolled off Ichigo and moved to the edge of the bed, sitting up so that his feet were on the floor and his back to Ichigo.

"Very well then."

"Er – what?" Ichigo asked, mind still clouded in pleasure. He suddenly registered what Byakuya had said and reached over to trail his hands up and down Byakuya's back, before curling an arm around his waist. Ichigo tugged him backwards, but Byakuya just looked down at him quizzically.

"I thought you wanted to get up?"

"Well, I'm up aren't I?" Ichigo said, blushing at his own innuendo.

"Yes, I suppose you are. Perhaps I should do something about that."

"Please", Ichigo said, almost begging. He moved back to spread himself out on the bed. Byakuya looked down at the inviting picture, before rapidly moving to take Ichigo's cock in his mouth, two questing fingers easily slipping inside the still-stretched hole, still open from the previous night. Ichigo moaned at the dual stimulation. Byakuya pulled back to kiss and nip at Ichigo's thigh, as a third and fourth finger slipped inside Ichigo, alongside the first two.

"You want me inside you?" Byakuya asked.

"Stop drawing it out – ah! – just take me already!" Ichigo almost shouted.

"Very well", Byakuya said, pulling his fingers from Ichigo's now reddened hole and sliding up Ichigo's body. Byakuya pressed his cock against Ichigo's ass teasingly, but decided against drawing it out any longer, especially with the redhead sprawled out beneath him, looking like sin personified. He thrust inside and set a brutal pace, causing Ichigo to keen and moan loudly, as every thrust struck his prostate dead-on. He wrapped his legs around Byakuya's waist and urged him to go faster, pressing himself down on Byakuya.

"More", he gasped out, between moans as Byakuya's cock abused his prostate. Byakuya complied, thrusting in impossibly deeper and harder. Ichigo practically screamed Byakuya's name as his orgasm took him by surprise, long strips of come shooting across his stomach as he rode out the waves of pleasure. Byakuya's own orgasm was pulled from him by Ichigo's spasming hole, and he groaned out the redhead's name as he filled Ichigo with his come. He slipped out and laid down beside Ichigo.

After a few moments, Ichigo looked at Byakuya:

"You've definitely made me late now", he said accusingly.

"Well, if you lived here..." Byakuya said suggestively. Ichigo looked at him for a moment before rolling over, smearing the bedcovers with come as he moved into Byakuya's ensuite bathroom and locked the door behind him.

When he emerged a while later, clean although wearing last night's clothes, Byakuya was still lying on the bed.

"Er – I have to go", Ichigo said. Byakuya stood up and came over to kiss him.

"Well?" Byakuya asked, as he pulled back.

"Well what?"

"If you lived here –"

"I have to go, I'm already late", Ichigo said rapidly, practically running out of the room, his face bright red. Byakuya smirked as he went to clean himself up, knowing he'd find a way to get Ichigo to agree to live with him sooner or later.

* * *

Kenpachi grinned his usual almost-maniacal grin as he knocked Ichigo to the ground, both eyes staring down at the orange-haired shinigami, who soon pushed himself back onto his feet.

"You want more?" Kenpachi asked, still grinning as he took in the various injuries Ichigo had gotten just from sparring with him – and ignoring the fact that he was also injured, of course.

"I'm not done yet", Ichigo said, looking at his captain briefly before jumping back into the fight.

Around an hour later, Renji entered the squad 11 barracks, walking through to find Ichigo's quarters. He knocked on the door and went in, easily noticing Ichigo lying on the bed.

"Was there another invasion and no-one told me?" he asked jokingly.

"Shut up", Ichigo replied, although he spoke good-naturedly.

"You got time to talk or does Captain Zaraki want to beat the crap out of you some more?"

"He got injured too", Ichigo responded, sitting up and glaring at Renji, who sat down in a chair on the other side of the small room.

"I'm sure he did, but he probably likes it", Renji joked. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something", he continued, speaking in a much more serious tone.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter...well, not yet...er – I..."

"If you want to talk to me, forming full sentences might be helpful."

"I think you've been around Captain Kuchiki too much, you're starting to sound like him", Renji grumbled. He sighed before continuing: "I want to ask Rukia to marry me."

"Okay...so what's the problem?"

"She'll want me to have asked for Captain Kuchiki's blessing – he'll never give it, so what do I do?"

"No idea."

"Well, you're helpful", Renji deadpanned.

"I have my own problems too, you know."

"Like what?"

"Byakuya asked me to move in with him."

"What's the problem with that? You always seem to have to rush from his house, past your squad barracks and to your apartment every morning, just to come back here – wouldn't it be easier to just live there?"

"I don't think he wants me to move in because it's more convenient for me."

Both shinigami sat in silence, thinking about the problems they were dealing with. Suddenly, Renji jumped to his feet:

"I know!" he almost shouted in excitement. "I will ask for his permission, and say that you'll only move in with him if he lets me marry Rukia!"

"I don't think –"

"Come on, let's go see him now!"

"Renji!" Ichigo protested, as the other shinigami pulled him from the room, practically dragging him through the streets of the seireitei to squad 6's barracks.

They got to the barracks and Renji continued, pulling Ichigo right through to Byakuya's office. He finally let him go as he knocked, but Ichigo knew it was too late for him to leave now – Byakuya would have sensed him arriving. They went in and Renji went up to Byakuya's desk, looking triumphant, while Ichigo hung back near the doorway, even though the door had closed behind them as they entered.

"Yes?" Byakuya asked expectantly, looking between the two. Ichigo shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable, but Renji ignored him.

"I would like to ask Rukia to marry me", he announced.

"And?" Byakuya asked expectantly.

"I want your blessing."

"And exactly what makes you think I am going to agree?" Byakuya asked, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"Ichigo will move in with you ONLY if you agree to let me ask Rukia to marry me", Renji said triumphantly. Byakuya looked between the two of them.

"I have my own methods, and I'm sure that I can get Ichigo to agree to live with me without needing to give you my blessing." Renji's face dropped as he turned to leave. As the door closed behind the clearly upset lieutenant, Ichigo turned back to Byakuya, the uncomfortableness gone, replaced by annoyance.

"Your methods won't work", he said, almost growling. Byakuya looked up at him, still seated behind the desk.

"And what makes you think that?" he asked, his smirk almost a leer.

"Because I won't let them!" Ichigo replied, moving over to the desk and hitting it with his hands to make his point. "Because I don't think I can be around you that much!"

"Ichigo –"

"Just accept it! Rukia and Renji are together, she probably wants to marry him, but he won't ask without your permission, so just let him! And accept that I am not now nor will I ever be in your squad!" Ichigo turned abruptly and stormed out of the office, leaving Byakuya looking after him. Had anyone been walking past they would have been shocked to see that Byakuya's normally expressionless face was gone, replaced by a gaping mouth as he looked at his retreating boyfriend. As the door slammed shut, Byakuya forced his features to return to their normal impassive appearance. He set aside his work, instead thinking about what he should do, clearly recognising the need to apologise to his boyfriend for his actions. He sat for a moment, wondering what to do, before he stood to leave, knowing what he needed to do – knowing that, if he really was going to accept Ichigo's choice of squad, there was something he needed to be sure of first.

* * *

**Next Chapter - Will Byakuya and Ichigo stay together?**


	9. Chapter 9

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? 

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, ShunsuixJushiro, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

The following morning, Ichigo woke up to the sound of people running around outside his door. He stretched as he stood up and crossed the room, opening the door to his quarters to peer out into the corridor of squad 11's barracks. Everyone seemed to be heading to the same place, and Ichigo briefly wondered if there was another invasion.  _But that makes no sense, Grimmjow's the only one left,_ Ichigo reminded himself, closing the door and turning back into the room to get dressed.  _There aren't really any other arrancars, and I doubt Hollows or anything like that would call for the whole of squad 11 to be rushing to one place, unless they just want a fight...besides, if there was an attack, I'd have been woken up and told about it by a squad member._

By this point, Ichigo had fully dressed and decided to go and see what was going on.  _If Grimmjow had attacked, he would have come after me,_ Ichigo said to himself.  _Based on what Shunsui and Jushiro told me, Grimmjow only joined in with the invasion so he could fight me. If he did come back up to the seireitei, he may have ended up nearby, and if he's fighting someone else..._  Ichigo reached the end of the corridor, navigating his way around what seemed to be a crowd of spectators to where Yumichika was standing. Ikkaku was nearby, apparently taking bets, and Yachiru was watching, completely enraptured by what seemed to be a fight, although the people blocking Ichigo's way prevented him from seeing what the crowd of people were looking at.

"What's going on?" Ichigo called to Yumichika, unable to see what was going on from where he was, as everyone seemed to be jostling for a good view. As he made it onto the platform the other three seated officers were standing on, he got his answer, seeing the battle below even before Yumichika responded:

"Captains Zaraki and Kuchiki are fighting."

"Why?" Ichigo asked, although he had a feeling he already knew – it would be something to do with him, most likely his choice of squad 11 instead of squad 6.

As Byakuya looked up, Kenpachi followed his eyes, seeing Ichigo looking down at him. The orange-haired shinigami merely shook his head before stepping down from the platform and leaving.

"Looks like your boyfriend doesn't want to watch you lose to me", Kenpachi said, grinning. Byakuya didn't respond as he turned back to the fight.

Ichigo had managed to push his way past everyone to leave the training ground which had become an arena, although it took some effort as everyone wanted to watch the two powerful captains battling. The entire of squad 11 seemed to be there, and Ichigo thought he recognised some shinigami from other squads as well, particularly squad 6. He returned to his quarters and tried to ignore the sounds he could hear, the cheers of the audience and Ikkaku's voice shouting out betting odds, as he laid down on his bed. He closed his eyes, trying to shut it all out, as he wondered just how much longer he could put up with – no, would put up with Byakuya's constant need to get Ichigo into his squad.

* * *

Ichigo was again awoken by the sounds of people moving around in the corridors. He realised that he had fallen asleep, which surprised him given the amount of noise the spectators had been producing, and stood up. From what he could hear, the fight was now over, but he couldn't tell who had won – some people were grumbling and others were happy, but it seemed to have more to do with the betting that had been going on than with the actual victor. A knock drew Ichigo's attention to the door and he went to open it, immediately closing it again when he saw who was there. He faced away from the door as it opened and closed again, Byakuya allowing himself in.

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked, not even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Can we talk?"

"Yesterday I told you to just accept my squad choice. Clearly you can't or you wouldn't have been fighting Kenpachi, so just...just go, okay?"

"No, it is not okay. May I explain?"

"Explain what?!" Ichigo shouted, turning to face Byakuya. "You –"

"Ichigo", Byakuya interrupted. "Do you honestly expect me to just accept another person as your captain without determining if they deserve you?"

"You...you were fighting Kenpachi...I don't understand", Ichigo said, sitting down on his bed. Byakuya sat down beside him, close but not in Ichigo's personal space, realising that Ichigo needed an explanation before Byakuya tried anything.

"I wanted to be sure that this was the right squad for you – and I don't just mean because I wanted you on my squad. You have more skill in kido than Renji does –"

"So you want me to replace him as your lieutenant, right?" Ichigo interrupted.

"Will you please just listen?" Byakuya asked, trying to avoid getting annoyed at Ichigo's interruption. Ichigo turned his head away, saying nothing, so Byakuya continued: "As I was saying, you have skill in kido, something which could not be further developed should you remain in squad 11. On the other hand, you do enjoy fighting, just as the other members of the squad do, and being in the combat squad is certainly a good place for you. I actually came to speak with Kenpachi, which is all we did at first, however, he would only agree to my terms if I agreed to spar with him."

"That didn't look like sparring."

"Given the cuts and bruises on your body, and the fact that Kenpachi informed me that the two of you sparred last night, I expect that your fight could hardly be called sparring."

"Yeah, I don't think it's possible to spar with someone like Kenpachi", Ichigo said, smiling as he turned to face Byakuya. "What is it, then, that you had to spar with Kenpachi to get him to agree to?" he asked, smile dropping from his face to be replaced with a more serious look.

"I asked Kenpachi to allow you the opportunity to continue to work on your kido, even though normally members of his squad focus purely on the brute force approach."

"And he agreed to let you teach me?!" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"That was why I had to spar with him, so he would agree, but as long as you can still fight, are still strong and will still spar with him, he has no problem with you learning kido. As for who will teach you, it doesn't have to be me...unless you want it to be."

"Okay", Ichigo said thoughtfully. "Well, I guess I do want to learn, but I'm not sure you should teach me – I'm not really a good student, I get frustrated when I can't do things, and –" He was interrupted by Byakuya's lips pressing against his own. He kissed back for a moment, enjoying the chaste kiss, until Byakuya pulled back.

"As I said, it doesn't have to be who teaches you, there are advanced kido classes available to current squad members and seated officers", Byakuya pointed out. Ichigo smiled again, and the smile was again replaced by a serious look.

"What about Renji and Rukia? Will you accept that they are together?"

"I still don't like it", Byakuya replied. "But –" He was cut off as Ichigo jumped to his feet:

"Why do you have such a problem with it?!"

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"Because they're two of my best friends and they should be together!"

"Yes they should."

"I don't care if you disagree – wait, what?" Ichigo said, calming down as he registered what Byakuya had said. Byakuya stood up to face him.

"I will allow Renji to ask Rukia to marry him. I'm still unsure if I approve, but...they are happy together. If he hurts her, however..."

"I don't think he will", Ichigo replied, hugging Byakuya.

"Ichigo?"

"Thanks. You know, for accepting everything", Ichigo mumbled into Byakuya's shoulder. Byakuya encircled Ichigo in his arms, pulling him closer. After a moment, Byakuya sat down, still holding Ichigo, which forced the younger shinigami to straddle his laps, knees on either side of Byakuya's hips as Byakuya sat on the edge of the bed. Ichigo leaned backwards to look at Byakuya, then in again to kiss him, allowing Byakuya's tongue to enter his mouth as they continued making out.

After a few minutes, they pulled back, both breathing a little heavier.

"I guess you were just being over-protective", Ichigo said.

"I do care about Rukia", Byakuya reminded him.

"I meant with me as well, if you were willing to fight Kenpachi just so that he would agree to let me learn kido."

"You have known for a while that I would fight anyone for you", Byakuya said. "That is how you realised my feelings for you, after all."

"I know, but still –"

"Ichigo, I will fight anyone for you – I would kill for you and I would die for you."

Ichigo looked at his boyfriend, seeing the honesty in Byakuya's eyes, as well as the resolve – he knew Byakuya really would do as he said, but:

"Please don't", he said, leaning his forehead against Byakuya's. "I'm on squad 11 – I'd never hear the end of it if you had to die for me." He pulled back to look in Byakuya's eyes, before crashing their lips together with such force that Byakuya fell backwards onto the bed, his legs still dangling off. Ichigo pulled back, allowing Byakuya to lie properly on the bed before reattaching their lips. He moaned into the kiss as Byakuya moved his hand to the back of Ichigo's head, the two of them now fully making out on Ichigo's bed.

* * *

**Next Chapter - Final Chapter! Byakuya gets what he wants from Ichigo...**


	10. Chapter 10

Normal Text

_Thoughts_

SUMMARY: Six months after Ichigo becomes a full shinigami, Harribel leads the remaining Arrancars against the seireitei. As various battles wage across the seireitei, can the shinigami hope to stop the Arrancars, especially when the Arrancars make an attempt to reach Aizen? 

WARNINGS: ByaIchi, RenjixRukia, IkkaYumi, ShunsuixJushiro, violence, explicit yaoi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, it is the property of Tite Kubo

* * *

The following day, Ichigo woke up in Byakuya's bedroom. He had missed waking up here yesterday, but at least he had finally gotten through to his boyfriend, finally made him realise that he was being too over-protective, both of Ichigo and of Rukia. Ichigo stretched, relishing in the warmth of the bed, as he noticed that Byakuya was already up. As he got up himself, he wondered why – Byakuya was still off duty and it was Ichigo's day off as well. Ichigo pulled on some loose clothing that was near the bed and went to look for Byakuya.

As Ichigo walked along the front of the manor, he noticed a redhead leaving a room not too far ahead of him. He wandered down and went into the room.

"Why was Renji here?" he asked Byakuya.

"I just needed to talk to him about Rukia", Byakuya responded.

"Why didn't you just talk to him at the barracks?"

"I wanted to speak to him today."

"About what?" Ichigo asked curiously, although he already knew that Byakuya had called Renji there to give him permission to ask Rukia to marry him.

"Ichigo", Byakuya said warningly, although a small smile graced his face.

"Okay, fine. So, Renji's going to be your brother, huh?" Ichigo teased, crossing the room to sit on the floor beside his boyfriend.

"Yes. Which means you must keep your end of the agreement."

"What agreement?" Ichigo asked, frowning as he wondered what Byakuya meant.

"A few days ago, Renji said that you would move in with me if he could propose to Rukia. I have given him my blessing, so now you must keep your end of the bargain."

"Wait – I didn't...I never agreed to that!" Ichigo practically shouted, jumping to his feet.

"I'm afraid it's too late", Byakuya replied. "I have already sent some of the household servants to your apartment to fetch your things." He stood up, facing Ichigo.

"But...I never – I...er –" Ichigo stammered out, before Byakuya silenced him with a kiss. Ichigo didn't even have time to register the kiss, let alone respond to it, before Byakuya had withdrawn and left the room, walking back down the outside of the house to his – no, their bedroom. Ichigo hurried after him.

When he reached the room, Ichigo noticed that Byakuya had climbed back into bed.

"This is supposed to be our day off, is it not?" Byakuya asked.

"I never agreed to this", Ichigo grumbled, as he wandered over to the bed, sitting on the edge and facing away from Byakuya. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him backwards. Ichigo slid across the bed until he was seated in Byakuya's lap, Byakuya sitting up in bed while Ichigo''s legs were at right angles to his boyfriend's. A hand pulled Ichigo's cheek round into another kiss, this one longer and deeper. Ichigo moaned, trying to remember what had been bothering him only seconds before, but as Byakuya's hand slipped into the loose trousers, Ichigo forgot all protests he had over their living situation.

Byakuya pushed Ichigo down onto the bed, claiming his lips in another searing kiss, distracting the orange-haired shinigami as he reached down and slid one dry finger into Ichigo's hole, which was still stretched from the previous night's activities.

"Still open for me", Byakuya teased, pulling back from the kiss as a second finger slipped inside his responsive lover. Ichigo moaned and bucked his hips upwards, trying to get the fingers deeper inside. "Still got my come inside you as well", Byakuya continued. Ichigo moaned again at the words – no-one else probably realised how dirty Byakuya was capable of being, not given how uptight and proper he always seemed to everyone. Ichigo did know, however, and he loved it, especially when Byakuya slid a third finger inside and started describing how wanton Ichigo looked.

"Ah! Byakuya!"

"You like it when I talk like this, don't you?" Byakuya asked teasingly, withdrawing his fingers. "You love it when I tell you how flushed and wanton you are, spread out on our bed, just begging for me to take you."

"Yes. Please. In!" Ichigo said, keening at the loss of the fingers inside him. His whine was soon replaced by a long drawn-out moan, as Byakuya slid his hard cock deep into Ichigo's stretched hole, hitting his prostate dead-on at the first thrust. He thrust in and out of Ichigo slowly, building the pleasure, while Ichigo bucked and moaned beneath him, trying to get Byakuya to speed up. Ichigo looped his legs around Byakuya's waist in an attempt to make him move faster, but Byakuya just continued at the agonisingly slow pace he had set.

After several minutes of thrusting, with Ichigo moaning for more beneath him, Byakuya reached down, wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist to pull him up so that he was sitting on Byakuya's lap. The deeper angle caused both of them to moan, although Byakuya's was much softer. Ichigo groaned as Byakuya began thrusting again, but this position allowed Ichigo to move as well, so that he could at least partly control the speed. He rode Byakuya's cock as Byakuya thrust into him, their combined movements become increasingly erratic as both reached their peak. Ichigo wrapped his arms around Byakuya's neck and kissed him, their tongues copying the movements of their lower body, Byakuya's thrusting deep into Ichigo's mouth while the orange-haired shinigami could only moan and writhe as his release came suddenly and unexpectedly, throwing his head back with a loud moan of Byakuya's name. Byakuya continued thrusting as Ichigo rode out his orgasm, holding back until the younger was completely spent, before allowing his own orgasm to wash over him, spurting deep inside Ichigo's ass. He pulled out and moved to Ichigo's side, pulling Ichigo down into a cuddle.

"Still want to argue?" Byakuya asked softly, as one of Ichigo's hands started twisting in the hair at the back of his neck.

"About what?" Ichigo asked, mind still hazy from pleasure.

"Moving in", Byakuya said.

"Oh. Well, I guess it's closer to the barracks here, and I did kind of want to anyway..."

"Then why did you argue?"

"Because you just assumed I would want to, rather than waiting for me to actually say 'yes'", Ichigo replied, looking up at Byakuya.

"I apologise", Byakuya said, placing a kiss on Ichigo's forehead. "I will make sure I ask you properly in future. So, will you move in with me?"

"Sure", Ichigo responded, snuggling into Byakuya's side.

"Good, because I expect the servants have brought all your things by now." Ichigo didn't reply, just moved impossibly closer. "Incidentally, I don't believe I ever punished you", Byakuya continued thoughtfully.

"Punished me? For what?"

"Don't you remember, after our battle I said that I would punish you for choosing the wrong squad?"

"I thought you were okay with that now!"

"I am, but the thought of punishing you won't leave me alone."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Ichigo asked, sitting up.

"Isn't it obvious?" Byakuya asked in response, practically leering before he jumped Ichigo, pinning him to the bed for another round.

* * *

**End**


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